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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27077545">A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74'>JMount74</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blindfolded, Blood, Bound, Death, Descriptions of Surgery, Gen, Head Injury, Left for Dead, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Shooting, Stalking, brief mention of drug dealing, gagged, kidnap, knife, mention of chronic pain, mention of post-surgery side effects</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 01:33:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27077545</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott Tracy was not having a good time. 17 years old and in his last year of high school, this should have been a seminal year for him. Instead, things go from bad to worse.</p><p>Whumptober prompts, one prompt per chapter: 22, 17, 27, 18, 24, 23, 16, 31, 30, 29, 21</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Do These Taste Funny To You?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Whumptober<br/>Chapter 1: Prompt 22: Do These Taste Funny to You? Drugged<br/></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He hated his life right now.</p><p>Sure, it had been nice getting his Father back at first, but it soon became evident that little had actually changed. In fact, school had become a whole lot worse. He sighed. Roll on end of year – he was finally leaving this rotten establishment for the joys of Yale.</p><p>Scott Tracy was not having a good time. 17 years old and in his last year of high school, this should have been a seminal year for him. Instead, he was having trouble with the very people that should have been making this great for him.</p><p>Having spent 18 months caring for his younger siblings after the sudden death of their mother and the absence of his father, it had been the trouble brewing at the school for the honour student that had finally forced his father to leave his work and face his sons, face Scott.</p><p>It had started innocently enough. Todd Mason was the football quarterback. Hannah April Jones was the head cheerleader. Scott was team captain of the baseball team. They didn’t really mix. And everyone knew the quarterback and the cheerleader were an item. Besides, Scott had no time for anything other than his family and his baseball. It was the only after-school event he attended.</p><p>So it was with some surprise that Scott noticed Hannah trying to get friendly with him, generally hanging around and trying to get his attention. He ignored her – she was spoken for and he really wasn’t all that into her. Hannah’s biggest problem to Scott was that she was shallow.</p><p>When Hannah realised Scott wasn’t going to give in to him she upped her game. He began getting calls and texts all through the day and night, sometimes as much as over 100 a day. She wouldn’t leave him alone at school, sitting right behind him and trying to insert herself into his conversations. His friends were no help – they thought it was hilarious. Scott had desperately needed to talk to his father about it, but as usual Jeff was too busy.</p><p>The whole situation took a turn for the worse when Hannah turned up at Alan’s school and tried to take Alan home. Alan’s school called the police. The police called Jeff. </p><p>By this time Scott had been trying to deal with Hannah on his own for nearly six months. On top of his mom dying less than a year before, looking after his brothers and still trying to keep up with his school work, Scott had begun to crack under the strain. The first thing to go had been his eating. His weight plummeted. He began to suffer regularly with headaches and dizzy spells. Scott became anxious and withdrawn from all but his brothers. Even his friends had begun to notice the change.</p><p>By the time Jeff arrived at the school, Scott had sent John, Virgil and Gordon home and had called his grandma to come look after them. The police were quite polite to Scott and very nice to Alan, but Scott had noticed the worried looks they kept shooting them. Alan had not seen Hannah – thank goodness for security – but he could tell something was wrong and had jumped into Scott’s arms the minute he had arrived and had not let his big brother go. </p><p>It had taken Jeff 45 minutes to get from the office to the school. He wasn’t sure what was going on, the police said there had been an attempted security breach involving Alan, and all sorts of attempted kidnap scenarios were playing through his head. As he was escorted through the school to where his eldest and youngest were, the police filled him in.</p><p>Seeing Scott was a shock. His eldest was wan, with red-rimmed eyes and he had evidently lost some weight. It shook Jeff to realise he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Scott, they always seemed to talk over the phone, and he felt guilty that something was wrong, and he had not, did not, know about it.</p><p>Scott kept quiet as the police explained the situation until they came to explaining Hannah. The woman in charge, Gerry Anders, told Jeff that Hannah was a friend of Scott’s. Scott wasn’t having any of that! Haltingly at first, and in the face of obvious scepticism, he explained what Hannah had been doing. He could tell the woman didn’t believe him, especially when she said that in her experience it was men that stalked, but Scott had been wise enough to keep the texts. She had only read a few before she realised that Scott was telling the truth. Some of the messages had been quite disturbing.</p><p>He felt like a burden had been lifted. Not only did someone else know and believe him, they were going to do something to help him. Scott felt ashamed that he couldn’t solve this problem, but the police woman explained that this issue was a very complex one that even adults did not know how to solve.</p><p>Jeff took his sons home, then called his doctor. Explaining the situation and Scott’s health, they came up with a plan of action. </p><p>Scott was kept at home for 2 months. He home-schooled so he didn’t miss anything, but he missed his friends and he missed his baseball. Thank goodness it was out of season, but he still missed the training. The doctor had devised an eating and exercise plan, and Scott was sticking to it. He’d already put on a couple of kilos – nowhere near as much as he had lost, but the doc had said slow and steady would be key. The headaches and dizziness had lessened dramatically.</p><p>Jeff took a couple of weeks to work from home. The condition his firstborn had been in opened his eyes to how he was neglecting his children, so it was with some surprise that the rest of the family seemed fine, normal even. It wasn’t until his mom had sat him down and explained how Scott had kept everything and everybody together, and that was with all the problems he was having at school, that Jeff understood just how much he had put on Scott’s shoulders. He vowed to do better.</p><p>He tried. He really did, but after working from home for two weeks he began to see cracks in his work and by the time Scott’s two months were up and he was due back at school, Jeff was back at work full-time. The only difference was that his mom had moved permanently into the farmhouse to help care for his sons.</p><p>Scott’s first day back had been a nightmare, as had every day since. He returned to a school that knew exactly what had happened to him and he ran the gauntlet every day of comments about his inability to keep a girl, being henpecked and worse. He thought the verbal bullying was bad, but then there was Todd.</p><p>Normally Scott wouldn’t have had a problem dealing with Todd – he’d taken on bullies throughout his school life (usually for John) – but in his current condition compared to Todd’s – he took a bit of a beating. With Todd accusing Scott of trying to steal Hannah from him, nothing Scott said was going to make a difference and Scott knew it.</p><p>He was still on his special diet and was still struggling with some solids, but he was getting there. His core circle of friends had rallied around him, and they formed a wall around him once they realised Todd was on the warpath. It helped Scott to stay in one piece, but it didn’t help the overall atmosphere at the school. He hoped time would ease people’s memories.</p><p>Todd was getting frustrated. He wanted to get to Scott, but nothing was getting past his friends. He was a popular student and had a lot of friends. After a couple of weeks he had come to the conclusion that he would need another plan. And he knew just how to get to Scott. His love of his family would be his downfall.</p><p>It didn’t take much to find out about Scott’s younger brother Gordon. He went to school with his own younger brother. And his brother was full of tales about what a prankster Gordon Tracy was. It did not take much to persuade Andy to slip Gordon some laxative powder for him to slip into Scott’s special drink.</p><p>Gordon thought it was one of the best pranks he would have pulled in a long time. Scott had been so very stressed lately, and the eleven-year-old was convinced that this would help him lighten up. So he got up early one morning and poured the powder into Scott’s prepared drink, giggling to himself as he did. Andy had assured him it was a delayed reaction powder, so he should see the results as Scott got home from school since Scott had his drink for lunch.</p><p>If only it had been a laxative.</p><p>About an hour after lunch Scott started to feel really ill. He was sweating and seemed to be having trouble swallowing. By the time the first lesson was almost over he was having difficulty concentrating and his speech was slightly slurred. His teacher noticed that Scott was behaving unusually, and they had all been informed of the issues he had been having. She dismissed the class, vaguely noticing that Mason seemed to be enjoying Scott’s discomfort, and called the nurse. By the time the nurse arrived Scott was barely conscious and had vomited a couple of times.</p><p>For the second time in almost three months Jeff found himself rushing out of work to get to one of his sons. Only this time he’d been told Scott had been rushed to the hospital unconscious, and his stats were all over the place. He put his foot down, speed limit be damned. He had to get to Scott.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I Did Not See That Coming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thing just keep getting worse...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 17: I Did Not See That Coming: Wrongfully Accused</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scott was unconscious for almost 24 hours. The doctors did a plethora of blood and urine tests and muttered a lot to each other. Jeff sat to one side, feeling guilty once again for thinking everything was back to normal. Scott was still too thin, even if he had put some weight back on, and he still looked ill.</p>
<p>After six hours one of the doctor’s attending Scott came in to explain the results they had found. It was a complete shock that Jeff was told that Scott had evidence of drugs in his system, and that his weakened body had reacted badly. He was told to be thankful that there was only a small amount present, otherwise it may have been a different story.</p>
<p>Jeff was livid. First this business with the girl and Scott being disbelieved, now his son had been drugged. What on earth was happening in that school – and did he need to think about removing John and Virgil from there too?</p>
<p>His mom brought the boys to the hospital before they went to school. None of them wanted to leave Scott and Jeff, but they both explained that they would be better off visiting this afternoon, the doctors were hopeful that Scott would be awake by then. It was a quiet and grumpy four that went to school that day. No-one noticed that Gordon was particularly feeling guilty.</p>
<p>Once his mom and boys had gone, Jeff had a long talk with his lawyer and the woman policeman, Gerry Anders, from before, looking to see what could be done and whether the cases could be connected. She promised to look into it and get back to them. </p>
<p>At school, John and Virgil were talking to Scott’s friends. Although Scott spent a lot of time with is brothers, they respected that Scott needed his own friends at school, as they indeed had theirs. The group were subdued after being told Scott was off again, this time in hospital. They promised the brothers they would ask around.</p>
<p>By the time school had finished the rumour mill was working overtime. Some were saying Scott had died, others were saying he had overdosed on drugs, still others were saying it was an elaborate ruse to get out of class. By the time Grandma came to pick them up both John and Virgil were sporting bruises and bust lips from fighting. She listened tight-lipped to what was going on, and she decided that it was time to think about pulling them out, at least until Scott was back.</p>
<p>Jeff was horrified. For the second time in one day he was on the phone to his lawyer. How had they known? Unless the person responsible had been spreading the rumours. He needed to work out what was going on.</p>
<p>Principle Hart was a fair man. At least, he thought so. But the thought of the great Jeff Tracy suing his school because of the events around his eldest over the last eight months made him frankly wet his pants. So he decided to do one of the things he legitimately could. He ordered a locker search.</p>
<p>The search was extensive, and Hart had called in all the security officers and that woman cop from last time also was present. His nervousness was making him sweat. The locker search didn’t take long, and it was a huge surprise that the only locker that had drugs in…was Scott’s. Hart thought he might faint.</p>
<p>Anders was in a dilemma. A small one. She was pretty sure those drugs would turn out not to be Scott’s. No way an honour student with his record could also be taking drugs. But finding them in his locker was damnable and would take longer to disprove. Anders would make sure that kid got justice. First the stalking and now this. She frowned. Something more was going on here, she just knew it.</p>
<p>Once Grandma had collected Gordon and Alan too, they all headed over to see Scott. Gordon was very quiet, and his grandma was beginning to worry that there was something wrong with him too. She watched him closely as they waited for permission to see Scott.</p>
<p>Scott was awake, but he felt awful. He couldn’t say what hurt the most, he just felt awful all over. His dad had been in and out all afternoon since he had woken up, and he seemed really stressed. Scott felt guilty for disrupting his father again. He could feel himself drowning in everything that was happening. There was a small part of him that wanted to shrink away and hide from everyone. But he needed to be brave and happy for his brothers, they would be here soon.</p>
<p>The hour that they were allowed to stay was difficult on all of them. By the time they were leaving Scott was physically and mentally drained and almost asleep again. It was a strain on everyone present, and even Alan could see that Scott was not fine, despite his protests to the contrary.</p>
<p>Anders had arrived just as the family were leaving and had taken Jeff to one side. She had persuaded the principle that this was a police matter and she would speak to Jeff – a result that Hart had been more than happy to agree to. She knew this was not going to be easy on the father and had arranged for one of the small offices and some decent coffee to be ready. The lawyer was already there, not that she could remember his name, and she was grateful that there would be help dealing with Tracy.</p>
<p>Saying goodbye to everyone, Jeff followed Anders to a small office, making sure that the hospital staff knew where he was. If he was surprised to see Ed Simms there he didn’t let on, but Jeff was happy that Ed was there to fight his corner with him. Something told him that this was not going to be straightforward. </p>
<p>He sat there and listened to Anders explain what had transpired at the school, his anger growing every minute. He had not failed to notice the condition that John and Virgil were in. And he knew school policy – being caught with drugs was an instant expulsion, and it would prevent Scott going to Yale, or anywhere else for that matter. Jeff was unsure how he was holding everything together. Thankfully, both Anders and Simms were sympathetic and more importantly, both believed Scott was innocent. They just had to prove it.</p>
<p>Gordon had been getting more and more unhappy. His shock at seeing Scott in hospital was only compounded by the belief, the nagging voice, that this was all his fault. He had put that powder in Scott’s drink and Scott had been made ill. But Gordon was unsure what to do about it. It was one thing to be guilty of a prank and deny it, but this was a whole other issue. As they were about to leave Scott to go home his dad was called aside by that nice police woman from last time. This told Gordon how serious this was, and he knew he had to say something. Grandma had promised to wait until dad got back, and she didn’t notice him slip away after Jeff.</p>
<p>He stood outside the room in a quandary. He wanted to tell, but there was something fundamentally wrong about dobbing in a friend. Gordon didn’t realise this was exactly why Todd thought this would work, that Gordon would not tell on Andy and so no-one would be able to trace this back to him. But he reckoned without the close-knit bonds the Tracy family had.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until Gordon heard his father begin to shout that he found the courage to go forward. He knocked on the door and waited. Anders was surprised to see the child there but let Gordon in anyway. She could see by the determined look on his face that he had something to say.</p>
<p>Jeff had started to yell that he was going to sue that school and anyone who dared to say Scott was on drugs when the knock came. He was very surprised when Gordon entered but he could see Gordon was very unhappy about something. He beckoned his fourth-born over. ‘What is it, son?’ he asked, as gently as he could muster.</p>
<p>Gordon swallowed. This was not going to be easy. ‘I – It’s my fault,’ he suddenly gushed. ‘Scott’s been so sad, and I wanted to cheer him up, so I put some laxative in his drink.’ Jeff had been puzzled at first by Gordon’s apparent confession. He knew the prankster had a habit of practicing his art on his brothers, but he felt he could reassure Gordon that this was not his fault, although why Gordon thought giving anyone a laxative would cheer them up was a mystery Jeff had given up trying to solve years ago.</p>
<p>He pulled Gordon in close, gently lifting his chin so they were looking at each other. ‘Gordon, I want you to know that this is not your fault. Scott obviously didn’t take the drink as that was not what caused him to be ill, ok? Someone else did this.’ But Gordon was clearly not assured by this. </p>
<p>Pulling himself out of his father’s arms he pulled a wrapper from his pocket and placed it in front of the police woman. She looked surprised but didn’t go to touch it. ‘Gordon?’ his dad asked. And suddenly Gordon was crying and trying to explain and then it was difficult to breathe and talk and cry all at the same time. A comforting hand was making circles on his back and encouraging him to just breathe and he focused on that sensation. Once he had calmed down a bit Jeff picked him up and sat him on his lap.</p>
<p>‘So, what I understood, son, is that someone gave you this to spike Scott’s drink and told you it was a laxative?’ Gordon nodded miserably. Jeff hugged him tightly. ‘Are you going to tell us who?’ Gordon nodded again. He might not like telling tales, but this had hurt Scott badly, and no-one messed with his brothers.</p>
<p>When Gordon whispered ‘Andy Mason’ in the quiet of the room there was a collective pause, then Anders sprang forwards, snatching the twist of paper into a bag and striding from the room. Mr Simms looked kindly at Gordon, patted Jeff on the shoulder and said that he would deal with the school and left too. Then it was just Gordon and his dad, hugging him tightly and slightly rocking him.</p>
<p> Jeff sighed. His eldest had almost been killed by a cruel trick played on Gordon, and he knew that Gordon would blame himself for a long time over this. At least now a connection had been made. He had known that girl was going out with one of the Mason boys and it seemed the kid was determined to blame Scott for what had happened with the girl. Maybe it was time to move now rather than wait for Scott and John to finish school. It had been one of the reasons he had worked so hard recently, the purchase of a new home for them, so that they could get away from everything.</p>
<p>He kissed to top of Gordon’s head and set him on the floor. Kneeling down, he took one of Gordon’s hands in his own and simply said, ‘none of this is your fault, Gordon, and Scott wouldn’t like you to carry on blaming yourself. By being honest you may actually have saved him a lot of pain in the future, ok?’ Gordon nodded unhappily. Jeff led him from the room to the nearest bathroom and helped him clean his face. It was still obvious he had been crying, but the simple act did make him feel better. They returned to Scott’s room.</p>
<p>It took the best part of two weeks for the mess to be sorted out. In the end Andy Mason confirmed that his brother had asked him to pass on the laxative to Gordon Tracy. Andy was a good kid and had been horrified that he had unwittingly played a role in this. The police found Todd’s fingerprints inside Scott’s locker and one print on the bag of drugs found. Hart expelled the student immediately and made a very public school announcement clearing Scott of any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Scott returned home after three days in the hospital. His first act had been to pull Gordon into a hug, and he had been rewarded by Gordon falling apart on him. There were a lot of tears and a lot of talking about the future. Simms had come through and all records of any allegations were sealed.</p>
<p>Scott did not return to the school and finished his learning from home. He continued to improve so much so that when graduation came around he was his old fit self again. He graduated top of his class and was accepted into Yale.</p>
<p>Hannah April Jones was given a large fine and ordered to stay away from the Tracy family. Todd Mason was also fined, and he left without his high school diploma.</p>
<p>Scott and John left for Yale and Harvard together after Jeff had moved everyone to the island during the summer vacation. </p>
<p>Life moved on, but this was not the end.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Who Had Natural Disasters on Their Bingo Card?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Years have past, but will Scott's return to his high school go better than the last time?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 27: Who Had Natural Disasters on Their Bingo Card? Power Outage</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was all Alan’s fault. Sort of. And John’s. And Virgil’s. But mostly Alan’s</p><p>Scott Tracy had a poor track record when it came to reunions. Both of his previous reunions had resulted in him almost dying. He had thought that his air force reunion would be just alcohol and reminiscing. It had almost destroyed his flying ability*. His Yale university reunion was almost as bad – a gunshot wound that almost killed him#.</p><p>So when an invitation to his high school reunion came, there was no way on earth he was going to attend. Never mind that he actually didn’t stay in school to finish his last year – Hannah and Todd had seen to that – and he had completed online. The answer was such a foregone conclusion that he didn’t even mention it to his brothers, and Scott put it out of his mind.</p><p>A week passed. Eight rescues, 41 people rescued, no brothers seriously hurt (Gordon threw his back out again, and Alan managed to gain a six-inch cut on his upper thigh that needed stitches), and nothing for the last 17 hours. Scott felt particularly in a good mood. He’d managed to get up to date with TI paperwork, he was about to sit down and start on his IR and GDF paperwork. Coffee on the desk, sandwich eaten, he stared at the missive on the screen.</p><p>‘John?’ Scott called, knowing that his space brother he would be listening. And John replied almost immediately, ‘yes, Scott?’ He looked all too innocent to Scott. ‘What’s up?’ John continued.</p><p>John knew exactly what was up. He tried really hard to school his expression not to let on to his big brother, but he also knew that Scott just knew. It was like he had a Big Brother Radar that pinged every time one of them lied or evaded the truth. One day he was determined to beat this, but for now, he just tried to look as innocent as a guilty person could.</p><p>Scott’s shoulders slumped. It felt like his brother was conspiring against him. Who he was conspiring with was a worry, but he could work that one out later. ‘Explain,’ he commanded, best Big Brother voice coming into play and arms now folded across his chest. He was actually dreading the answer.</p><p>‘Well, I was discussing the new quasar I discovered with Mr April,’ John began, knowing and waiting for Scott’s eye roll…yep, there it was. ‘And he mentioned that you had not replied to your reunion invite.’ John’s tone was light and innocent, but Scott was not fooled for a second.</p><p>‘You just happened to be sharing information with our high school science teacher, did you?’ he asked, sarcasm dripping. John nodded, possibly too vigorously for him to be believed. ‘And how often do you converse with Mr. April?’ John didn’t really have a way to answer this and be honest at the same time without annoying Scott, so he said nothing and smiled. </p><p>‘I’m not going, John. There is nothing on earth that can make me.’ John sighed, he understood why, he really did. That last year of high school was possibly the third worst year of Scott’s life, the other two being the years their parents were taken from them. And that was on top of what when he had attended reunions before.</p><p>‘Read the invitation again, Scott, and read all the information,’ John gently urged. There was a part of him that didn’t want Scott to go, he wasn’t sure that he could cope with anything happening to Scott again. But he also knew that his was not his decision, and Scott probably had only read the first paragraphs and discarded it.</p><p>Scott sighed heavily, opened the invite and read the whole lot. Then he read it again. Then he sighed again. He closed everything down and turned on his heels and left, John watching sympathetically. John disappeared from the office and popped up on Two, waiting for Virgil to finish his current upgrade rather than causing his brother to jump and possibly have an accident.</p><p>Virgil, some type of screwdriver in his mouth, mumbled around it, ‘what’s up, John?’ It was John’s turn to roll his eyes. Still, he waited for Virg to scoot out from under the console he was working on. Virgil pushed himself out, back on a dolly and screwdriver still firmly in his mouth, arms across his chest almost identical to how Scott had been a few minutes earlier. ‘I think you need to go talk to Scott,’ he told his immediately younger brother, ‘I’ll fill you in on the way.’</p><p>He didn’t hesitate. If John thought that Scott needed him, that was good enough. So when John explained that Scott had received an invitation to his high school reunion, Virgil stopped dead, fixing John with a glare. There was obviously more to it than a simple invite that could legitimately turned down.</p><p>‘And?’ he asked. John tried to shrug nonchalantly but didn’t succeed. ‘You need to see the invite, and I think you should let Scott show you. He’s in the gym now.’ Virgil changed direction. He wasn’t happy at his brother’s answer, but he trusted John knew what he was doing.</p><p>While this was happening Alan was killing zombies in his room and Gordon had taken Four out for a day trip. Kayo was out doing whatever Kayo was doing. Having decided that he’d killed enough zombies, Alan set out to track down his brothers in the hope of something edible for lunch. He knew Scott had said something about paperwork, so he hoped his oldest brother would throw together a toasted cheese something or other. They may not cook very often, but his three oldest brothers had all survived living away from home at Uni and each could do some kind of cooking. Even Gordon could on occasion. </p><p>By the time Virgil had made it to the gym, Scott had changed and was attacking the punchbag with gusto. He made no acknowledgement of his brother’s appearance, so Virgil headed to the lockers and got changed himself. Steadying the bag his brother was trying to murder, he bided his time.</p><p>It took Scott a good solid 30 minutes to work his anger and frustration out. Taking the towel that Virgil held out for him he wiped himself down. Virgil sat on the bench and gestured for Scott to join him, which his brother did after snagging a bottle of water and drinking half of it. And still Virgil waited. He knew perfectly well that forcing Scott to talk about what had obviously upset him would only make him clam up.</p><p>‘John tell you, did he?’ Scott asked, eyeing his brother. Virgil shook his head. ‘No details, only that you had received an invite to your high school reunion. I’m assuming that there is something more to this.’ Scott nodded.</p><p>‘You know I would never go to another reunion, right?’ Virgil nodded. Putting his hand on Scott’s arm, he said, ‘I would be the happiest person on the face of this planet if you never went to another reunion ever.’ Scott made a noise of agreement. ‘But you’re thinking of going, aren’t you?’ Scott looked miserable as he nodded. Virgil sighed.</p><p>‘They’ve rebuilt the old library and added a small planetarium to the building. You know that Dad kept donating money to the school to keep it running?’ Virgil did indeed know this, and Jeff had kept it going when they had left, setting up scholarships and funds for students from poorer backgrounds to be able to participate in everything.</p><p>‘They want to dedicate them to Dad at the reunion. The Jeff Tracy Planetarium and Library.’</p><p>‘That’s so cool!’</p><p>Both brothers spun around to see Alan grinning happily at them. Scott frowned. Alan should understand why he wouldn’t want to go – he had himself been taken hostage temporarily during Scott’s doomed Yale reunion. But apparently Alan’s mind was forgetful of that occurrence.</p><p>It was Virgil that answered. ‘I think, given the last two reunions Scott has attended have not gone well for him, it’s understandable that he is uncertain about going, Allie.’ But Alan just stared at them both. This was for dad; this was more important than Scott just not wanting to go. Yeah, granted the last ones had not gone well, but he couldn’t refuse such an honour.</p><p>One look at the hurt evident in Alan’s face, and Virgil knew Scott would cave. And his brother did not disappoint. Getting up off the bench, Scott walked over to Alan and put an arm around his shoulders. ‘If it means that much to you, Allie, I’ll go.’ Alan pushed his arm off and held his nose. ‘God, Scott. You stink!’ And to Virgil’s delight, Scott laughed and headed off to the showers.</p><p>This is how, two months later, Scott and Virgil found themselves standing outside their old Kansas high school in matching suits. Virgil had refused to let him go alone – past experience taught them that much – and Scott had been more than grateful for his brother’s solid reassuring presence. Plus, John had promised to monitor everything too. Brains had outdone himself with their suits, a midnight blue/black for Scott and the darkest green that Brains could find for Virgil. Taking a deep breath, they entered the school.</p><p>The presentation and naming ceremony did not take long and was filled with members of the community exchanging stories of how Jeff and Lucille Tracy had helped their families. It was quite emotional to the three eldest, and Virgil hoped that Scott would start to unwind a bit. His brother was as taunt as a bowstring. It had been so beautiful hearing people talk about their mom, not many people outside of Kansas really knew that part of their lives and it was great to hear such wonderful reminisces.</p><p>Lots of people wanted to meet the two brothers, and for a short while all they did was smile and shake hands with people they had known as children but who had known them all. </p><p>Eventually a band made their way to the stage and set about playing some reasonably muted music that they all listened to at that time. People were talking in small groups, and Scott found himself talking to his old group of friends. They all looked simultaneously the same but also different. The girl Scott had just asked out the week before his mom had died was there, as was the guy she actually went out with when Scott didn’t immediately return to school following the break. Thankfully neither Hannah nor Todd were there.</p><p>Alcohol flowed, time passed, and people relaxed greatly. Virgil was discussing his music with some of Scott’s year he knew from band, but he kept an eye on Scott all the time. Scott had sat down with his closest three friends and they were quietly chatting. It looked like Scott had finally relaxed, and maybe, just maybe, he had broken his unlucky streak regarding reunions.</p><p>No sooner had that thought crossed Virgil’s mind then the power failed. Everything was out, the only light coming from the green glow of the emergency lighting. One of the teachers attending called out for no-one to move or panic, the backup generators would kick in.</p><p>The generators did not kick in. Then, to add to the panic of around 35 milling adults, the fire alarm sounded, and the sprinklers went off. Chaos ensued, and there were lots of screaming and banging as people run into each other and the furniture. There is some kind of commotion as people try to get the fire doors open, and it took Virgil a moment to force the one closest to him open. </p><p>By some unspoken agreement they all congregated in the front car park while they waited for the fire brigade to arrive. Virgil overheard someone who looked like a maintenance man say that a transformer had blown, and other houses were down too, but he was busy waiting for Scott to appear, regretting that he had separated from his brother. He saw Chad and James coming out with a third person between them and Virgil sighed in relief. Then he frowned. That wasn’t his brother, it was Robert. </p><p>No-one else came out. Scott was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The two previous times Scott has been to reunions refer to two of my favourite stories:</p><p>* Kidnap, by Xenitha<br/># More Than I Bargained For, by A Puppet On A Lonely String</p><p> </p><p>Both are available on FFN.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Panic At The Disco</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The family react to the news of Scott's disappearance</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 18: Panic At The Disco: Panic Attack</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘NO!’</p><p>‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no!’</p><p>This could not be happening. Not again.</p><p>John breathed in deeply, trying unsuccessfully to quell the growing panic blooming in his chest. ‘EOS scan the area again, please,’ he asked. </p><p>Please, please, please let there be something.</p><p>‘I’m sorry, John. There is no sign of Scott and his suit telemetry is off.’ He slammed his fist down hard on the console beside him. Getting angry would not solve anything. He could have his panic attack later, right now he needed to find out why Scott’s suit had suddenly stopped transmitting and where the hell was his brother?</p><p>‘John, your heart rate has increased exponentially and you breathing has increase and is shallow. I believe if you continue like this you are likely to pass out.’</p><p>EOS’ voice dragged him back to the present. So much for panicking later! And he was supposed to be the calm one, always in control. Goodness knew how his brothers were faring, especially Virgil.</p><p>Concentrating on his breathing – he most certainly did not want to pass out – John took deep, controlled breaths until his heart did not feel like it was trying to hammer its’ way out of his chest. ‘Ok, thank you EOS.’ He floated over to the window and looked down onto the beautiful planet below.</p><p>‘Let’s try to work out what went wrong, EOS. Maybe we can piece things together from there.’ EOS’ twinkling lights showed her affirmative, and the pair set to work.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>Gordon was tearing his hair out. Stuck on Tracy Island with Alan, Brains and Grandma, the four of them had been woken by the emergency klaxon. All had been shocked to hear Virgil’s expletive followed by the two words they had all hoped never to hear again.</p><p>‘Scott’s missing.’</p><p>Grandma didn’t even correct Virgil’s language. Gordon was desperate to get there, to be with Virgil to support him – he was Virgil’s wingman after all. But Virgil and Two were over seven and a half thousand miles away, and even Four would struggle covering that distance with any speed.</p><p>He could take One…but then Gordon immediately dismissed the idea. He could fly One – in theory. In practice he had almost crashed her, and he did not want to ruin his eldest brother’s pride and joy, especially now.</p><p>He was concentrating so much on trying to find a solution to getting to Virgil that he had not realised he was trembling. In fact, Gordon was trembling so hard his Grandma could see it. Suddenly his stomach suddenly started churning, and he bolted to the bathroom. </p><p>Wiping his mouth after upchucking his dinner from the night before, Gordon made his shaky way back into the lounge. It might be just gone 10pm in Kansas, but it was 3am here on the island. He needed to concentrate on something or the panic at Scott being missing would overwhelm him again. He hated that he threw up when he panicked, but he supposed it was better than feeling he was unable to breathe like John did. Not that John ever panicked – much.</p><p>He looked around to see how everyone else was coping, and made his way directly to Alan, giving Grandma a squeeze on the way.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>Alan stood like a statue in the lounge. When the alarm had sounded he had not long drifted off to sleep on his rug, clothed of course as he was still killing zombies, so had woken up reasonably quickly – for him. Gordon had pounded on his door and the two had arrived in the lounge together, Brains and Grandma not too far behind.</p><p>When John told them the news he froze. Not Scott. Not now. He swallowed unconsciously and cleared his throat. There was a tickle at the back, his throat was so dry he didn’t think he could talk even if he wanted to. Spinning on his heel, he rushed into the kitchen as Gordon rushed out of the room completely.</p><p>He poured the biggest glass of water he could find and downed it in one. Then refilled it and did it again, choking and spluttering on the water. The dryness stayed the same. The third glass he took with him and set onto the table in the middle of the room. He didn’t notice he was shivering until Brains draped a blanket over his shoulders.</p><p>He hugged the blanket close until he realised what blanket it was. It was the blanket they kept in the lounge for the days when Scott worked himself unconscious at dad’s desk, when whoever found him would place the warm blue blanket over him. Alan pulled it close as a tear run down his cheek.</p><p>He was grateful when Gordon returned and pulled him into a tight hug.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>Sally Tracy felt like the bottom of her world had fallen out.</p><p>Again.</p><p>Jeff had been missing for 6 years now, and that ache never eased, but finding out her eldest grandson, the one who had kept everyone else, including her, together after the incident had caused her to feel that loss all over again. Sure, it wasn’t the first time her Scotty had been kidnapped, but it was the first time without the reassuring presence of their dad.</p><p>The medic inside her clinically ran down the list of symptoms her grandsons were currently displaying:</p><p>John: shortness of breath and racing heart.<br/>
Gordon: tremors and nausea<br/>
Alan: dry mouth, choking and chills </p><p>Classic symptoms of panic attacks.</p><p>She wasn’t faring much better herself, a dull ringing in her ears and a feeling of dread creeping over her. She had to pull herself together. It would be up to her now to keep her grandsons together and get things moving. She appreciated the slight squeeze Gordon gave her in passing. It was enough to help.</p><p>Sally gave herself a mental shake. 5 minutes was all the time she would allow everyone to panic. Now was the time for battle stations. Someone had threatened her family again and this meant war.</p><p>Striding over to the centre of the lounge she became once more the Commander she had always been.</p><p>‘EOS, report on Virgil now please.’ Sally was acutely aware that whatever Virgil was going through this would be eating him up inside. He had gone with Scott purposely to prevent this from happening, and it had still happened.</p><p>EOS responded in her calm voice, ‘suit telemetry suggests highly elevated heart rate, shortness of breath and shallow breathing. Oxygen stats are slightly low. Virgil has thrown up three times already and is drinking copious amounts of liquid.’</p><p>‘Thank you, EOS. John, report,’ she barked again, and John sat up straight and added what detail they and the police had managed to put together. It wasn’t much more than a timeline at the moment. Somehow a cloaking device had been employed at the moment the power went out. Sally frowned.</p><p>‘Virgil are you there?’ she asked. Sally knew he would be there but having to deal with the police and literally everything on his own. She was aware that Kayo and Shadow were on their way, only about 15 minutes out, but she needed to hear Virgil.</p><p>Hearing her middle grandson clear his voice and excuse himself to whoever he was talking to, he came online, his holograph floating next to John’s, went half-way to calm Sally’s nerves. She could see the stress clearly defined in how he was holding himself so rigidly. She knew that the only way to get through this was keeping this professional.</p><p>‘Report, Virgil. What is your condition?’ Sally also hoped that by getting Virgil to focus on his physical condition it would get him to regulate his breathing, and this in turn would benefit his whole outlook. She was so pleased Kayo was almost there – both her boys would need her.</p><p>Virgil took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking and focusing on his own health. ‘Heart rate is elevated, breathing is shallow. Feelings of dread and disconnection. Classic signs of panic attack.’ Just relating these symptoms had already managed to calm him down somewhat. He inwardly smiled as he recognised the medic coming to the fore in both his grandmother and himself.</p><p>‘Ok, EOS has confirmed your heart rate has decreased and you are breathing better. Kayo should be with you within the next 10 minutes and Lady Penelope is on her way.’ Virgil nodded; the relief clear on his face. He listened as John filled him in on what little they had already discovered. The idea that someone was prepared enough to have a cloaking devise unnerved him somewhat. There was an implication of great fore-planning. And who could get hold of a cloaking devise? It wasn’t many and fewer still who would want Scott.</p><p>There was only one person he could think of.</p><p>Virgil turned as Shadow’s engines could be heard, and in short time Kayo had joined him in the tent the police had allowed him to use.</p><p>‘Good, you’re there,’ Sally said. ‘Penny’s here too. Ok. This is a council of war. Let’s get started, let’s get our boy back.’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. You're Not Making Any Sense</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Scott's in trouble and he knows it. Time to take stock.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 24: You're Not Making Any Sense: Forced Mutism, Blindfolded.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He didn’t usually have such trouble getting up. In fact, it was one of the only traits he shared with Gordon, the ability to get up at the crack of dawn and get straight out on a run. But this morning he was really struggling just to open his eyes.</p>
<p>He swallowed and choked, there was a fowl taste in his mouth, and it burned the back of his throat as he inadvertently inhaled the vapours.  A tendril of panic snaked it’s way through his brain as he tried harder to move.</p>
<p>Why was he having trouble waking up? Why was there something in his mouth? Before he could answer anything he felt a small prick in his arm and sleep overtook him again.</p>
<p>The next time he stirred he felt different. His head was pounding, that was true, and he felt like he would throw up any second, but he recognised what was going on.</p>
<p>After all, it wasn’t the first time he’d been clobbered and sedated.</p>
<p>Scott exercised his considerable self-control and did not move. He couldn’t afford to alert anyone to the fact he was awake, not if the last time was anything to go by. He was still gagged, and by the taste in his mouth it was a rag used to clean a dipstick, the unmistakeable tang of engine oil still burning his throat. Not many cars still used oil and petrol in this day and age of clean energy, but he knew that hadn’t stopped some. The lure of vintage retro cars still called some, despite the environmental consequences. The other people who drove petrol cars were often criminals, as he suspected was the case here.</p>
<p>But who was a question for later. Right now he was more concerned with the state of himself.</p>
<p>By minutely flexing his arms and legs he could tell he was tightly bound. Even that small movement caused some pain, likely from being in one position for so long. He didn’t dwell on the ‘how long’ part. So, Tracy, focus: arms bound behind. Rope? Not coarse enough. Cord? Maybe. Plastic? No, so not zip ties. Handcuffs? Not metal and no sound, so no. Some kind of small, tightly plaited cord. His ankles were bound tightly too, and probably within the same material. Huh – he wasn’t wearing his shoes, but his socks were still on.</p>
<p>He was also blindfolded. By frowning slightly he could feel the material rubbing, possibly another car rag. It was also quite tight, and he could feel where his hair had been snagged in the knots.</p>
<p>Inventory one: hands bound behind him, ankles bound, gagged and blindfolded. No jacket, he’d removed that at some point during the evening – no, not thinking about that yet – no shoes, couldn’t feel his cuffs or his collar so probably no shirt, but he didn’t feel naked so potentially t-shirt and boxers? His legs did feel a bit cold. Some remote part in his brain registered t-shirt/boxers/socks as a ridiculous get-up to be rescued in and that Gordon would have a field day.</p>
<p>With the gag firmly in situ he simply couldn’t afford to be sick, no matter how much he wanted to, and he spent some time trying to suppress his gag reflex and breath through his nose without inhaling from the gag. It wasn’t perfect, but he found he could block most of the back of his mouth with his tongue, minimising the effect the gag was having. </p>
<p>Ok. Not going to be sick now. Next thing to concentrate on: eyes. Can I open my eyes? Checking…no, cloth is too tightly bound. And ouch, that was hurting! Mouth: can I work the gag free? Checking…nope. Can push my tongue against it but it is not moving. Again, too tightly bound.</p>
<p>Scott was beginning to think that someone wanted him to stay tied up, everything was so tightly bound.</p>
<p>Right. Inventory number two: where am I? There was no discernible difference in light that he could see – i.e. it was dark, and he was pretty sure the red lightness he could see was just because of the tautness of the blindfold. There was no draught that he could feel. He felt a bit chilled, but that could simply be because he was missing half his clothes. He seemed to be lying on something material rather than on stone or wood.</p>
<p>Scott figured there was no-one else in the room as he had not heard a sound, not even someone else breathing. Time to try some things out.</p>
<p>Can I get the gag out using my shoulder?..........No, and by god that shoulder hurts now.<br/>Can I get my arms in front of me?...........No, too tight to squeeze my hips through. Ouch, though.<br/>Can I safely roll off where I am?..........Err…Nope, not a good idea, not good, not good, not…OH CRAP!</p>
<p>Scott rolled of what appeared to have been a bed or ledge or something similar onto a hard-stone floor, bruising his already sore left shoulder. He lay on his side, winded, catching his breath and hoping beyond hope that the noise hadn’t summoned anyone. He didn’t realise he was holding his breath until his lungs screamed at him, but no-one came.</p>
<p>Ookkay…now on the floor. Still can’t move unless it is rolling, and fairly sure I don’t want to do that. What about sitting up? Yeah – that’s a good idea. Sitting up will make me feel less vulnerable.</p>
<p>He rolled twice over to his right side until he hit the wall that the bed/ledge was on and concentrated manoeuvring himself into a sitting position. The first time he almost succeeded, only to hit his shoulders on the bed above him. Some more rolling to get out from under the bed and he found a corner. This made sitting up a little easier, and by the time he had achieved it he was panting, no mean feat when gagged, and had worked up a little sweat.</p>
<p>All this had taken Scott about an hour he estimated, possibly a bit longer. And still he had not seen or heard anyone. He wasn’t sure whether this was a good or a bad thing. But now that he had surveyed and inventoried as much as he could, his mind was now on Virgil. </p>
<p>What the hell had happened?</p>
<p>He had finally started to relax after the event had been proceeding for more than three hours with nothing happening. He had retreated to a corner with Robert, Chad and James, back against the wall and within eyeshot of the doors. He could see Virgil across the room at the piano, talking to some he remembered from the school band. Virgil was constantly sneaking looks at him, though, and while part of Scott was a little put out by the constant vigilance, he was also reassured by it. Virgil had stuck to him like glue for the first two hours and had only gone off to see someone he knew in the last half hour.</p>
<p>Scott had taken off his jacket. It was getting warm in the room, and the combination of around 40 adults in the school hall, whilst big enough, contributed to the stuffy feeling. He’d also taken off his tie and undone his top button, relieved when his friends had followed suit. They’d been drinking beers and generally chatting about nothing and everything. No-one mentioned either his dad nor the fact that the Tracy’s had not long come out as International Rescue, and he so appreciated his friends for that.</p>
<p>They had been arguing about baseball (as had been usual for them back in the day) when the lights went out. He remembered standing up. He’d been closest to the doors, of course, when the door had opened. He remembered turning to see who it was and then – nothing.</p>
<p>Scott assumed that was when they, whoever they were, had hit him.</p>
<p>Next thing he knew he was semi-conscious before a prick and more sleep. So that was when he was sedated.</p>
<p>Now he was here. Wherever here was. He wondered what had happened to Virgil, had he been kidnapped too? But that seemed unlikely. He had been sitting directly next to the doors, as his military training made sure he was near an exit at all times, even subconsciously, whereas Virgil was by the piano and surrounded by others. No, it was probable he was here alone.</p>
<p>Again.</p>
<p>All he could do now was wait for someone to come and explain what they wanted.</p>
<p>He could do that. He could be patient (he really could, even if every single member of his family, including Kayo, was laughing at that statement). </p>
<p>So Scott waited. And waited. And waited. At some point he must have dropped off to sleep as he woke up suddenly with the clanging of a door opening and two…no, three different footsteps sounded in the silence.</p>
<p>‘Good. You’re awake,’ said a voice he had hoped never to hear again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. What's A Person Gotta Do To Get Some Sleep Around Here?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Virgil's exhausted but time is ticking by. Will they uncover anything helpful to find Scott?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 23: What's A Whumpee Gotta Do To Get Some Rest Around Here? Exhaustion</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil knew he needed to sleep. He’d be no good on any rescue, let alone one this important. Yet here his still was, with Kayo and Penny and the police, co-ordinating with John and Grandma. But there was no new information, no new leads, no viable updates. The sensible part of him screamed that he should rest while he could. But sleep wouldn’t find his missing brother.</p>
<p>Scott had been missing now for 4 hours. It was nearly 2am and Virgil was awake on coffee fumes and adrenaline – and these were starting to wear off. He’d had a second adrenaline spike 90 minutes ago and he knew he was crashing hard. He pinched himself viciously, flinching. He was frustrated with himself. Why could he manage on a rescue for 56 hours but was struggling to stay awake after only 36ish hours? Virgil knew the answer, of course. Different stressors, different fears, plus on a long rescue Scott always ensured that they had sleep breaks.</p>
<p>That brought Scott sharply to mind again, not that he had stopped thinking of his older brother. They thought that they’d had a breakthrough when Scott’s suit started transmitting again. Brains had been thorough in designing and kitting them out, and a tracker came as standard, but it was only designed to be transmitting when in contact with skin so that there would not be any false readings.</p>
<p>He had prayed that this was not a false reading as he and Kayo raced to the source, 8 miles away. They were disappointed. The homeless man who now sported Scott’s trousers and shoes probably needed new underwear the way that Kayo almost landed on top of him. It was obviously a planned dump site; another man was attempting to put Scott’s shirt on. The two showed them where the clothes had been dumped, and Penny had stayed to double check everything while the police asked more questions. Virgil bought everyone dinner from the 24hr diner across the street. He was very popular.</p>
<p>He didn’t feel popular. He had let his brother down so badly. How could they have known that Virgil had moved away from his brother? How did they know that this was the perfect time to act? As these questions kept chasing themselves around his head, he struggled to keep his eyes open as Kayo and John talked.</p>
<p>Exhaustion is a funny thing, he thought to himself. On the one hand he felt quite alert and still slightly hyped – thank you adrenaline – but he also felt muddled. He couldn’t quite concentrate enough on what his brother and sister were talking about to understand everything. It was like he was listening through syrup – the kind Grandma makes. </p>
<p>The feelings he was currently having of hopelessness and anger he was pretty sure was down to exhaustion, but he was fighting them. He was a Tracy. There was no such thing as give up. </p>
<p>Suddenly he looked up as Kayo’s hand gently shook his shoulder. Huh…when did he sit down? Kayo smiled a small, tight smile, one that did not reach her eyes as she offered her hand to help him up. He accepted the help gratefully. When did his legs turn to jelly?</p>
<p>‘Come on, let’s get back to Two,’ she said, pulling him out of the tent the police had erected in the carpark since the hall was now an active crime scene. The night air was cool and managed to clear his head enough that he stopped dead. He knew he did not want to leave. What if something happened? Virgil must have spoken that out loud as Kayo answered, ‘John will alert us if something happens. Come on, you’re dead on your feet.’</p>
<p>‘Am not,’ he retorted, feeling like a kid being ordered to bed. Kayo rolled her eyes and played her ace. ‘Grandma’s orders. You’ve been up for nearly 36 hours with that rescue you did before heading out here.’ She then played her second ace: ‘you’ll be no good to Scott if you don’t get some rest.’</p>
<p>Grudgingly he let her lead him into Two and to one of the infirmary beds. ‘Ten minutes,’ he said. ‘An hour,’ she replied. They compromised at half an hour, and Virgil was out before he had fully lain down. Grandma’s hologram appeared. They shared a glance. Both knew that they wouldn’t wake him unless something happened.</p>
<p>Gordon and Alan were planning how to snatch one of the jets from under Grandma’s nose and high-tail it out to Kansas. Being a respectable 7am, they were ready to go charging in and help Virgil find Scott. The fact that nothing had been found yet was of no consequence to them. They knew it would only be a matter of time and they wanted – they needed – to be there.</p>
<p>It was like Grandma could read their minds. She kept them busy running down everyone who was at the reunion and watching what little camera footage there was, while John and EOS were looking into Hannah Jones and Todd Mason. They were the top suspects, sure, but they needed to find connections, evidence. And Sally shared Virgil’s concern over the timings.</p>
<p>John was looking into Mason’s past. Once he had been thrown out of school it appeared he had gone from bad to worse. A life starting out in petty crime progressing to larger and larger crimes, he did not seem able to stay out of prison. He had been released only last month, but John couldn’t see anything that could indicate he knew about Scott and the reunion – yet.</p>
<p>EOS had had much the same story with that Jones girl. Once John had explained what had happened to Scott back then, EOS had researched ‘stalking’ as John had called it while tracing Hannah’s steps. She found that Hannah had not done well either. Moving from small job to small job, never holding down one longer than six months, she appeared to just drift along. No boyfriends showing up, a small rented apartment in one of the most run-down areas of town and nothing more. No contact with Todd. No connection to Scott.</p>
<p>The idea of stalking concerned EOS. Scott may have taken the longest to accept her, but she felt that they had become friends, a shared concern for John being their focus. But from everything she was reading, victims of stalking do not often end up with good results. In fact the sheer number of deaths attributed to stalkers was frightening. Even knowing that the Tracy’s often broke any statistical model she used, this did not bode well; and she wondered if she should let John know. But as she watched him she decided he probably knew already, judging from how he was working.</p>
<p>Lady Penelope was furious. Not that she showed anything but a calm exterior to the world, but Parker could tell. The clothes drop had been a dead end, designed to throw them off the scent – not that they had a scent. The power outage had been caused by a transformer blowing, and an EMP had corrupted any data on the cameras in the area. At least, that is what was thought. It hadn’t taken long for John to point out that it was probably the other way around. An EMP would be a good explanation as to why the generators had not kicked in either.</p>
<p>It was Gordon and Alan who made the first connection simultaneously. They both shouted, ‘I’ve got it!’ and all eyes turned to them. Gordon gestured for Alan to start.</p>
<p>Alan brought up the guest list and compared it to the camera footage that they had managed to salvage. Watching Scott chatting with his friends was bittersweet, but he carried on. ‘There, EOS,’ Alan said, and EOS stopped the playback. It was moments before the power would go out, and there, just on the periphery of the video, there was someone heading towards the doors next to Scott.</p>
<p>‘That is Fred Appleton, Todd Mason’s best friend and pass rusher for the team when Mason was quarterback. It’s not much to go on, but he was definitely edging towards the doors just before the blast.’ There was a ripple of interest going through the room, maybe things were starting to come together now.</p>
<p>‘And I’ve got footage showing the same guy talking on a phone several times throughout the night, and he’s always looking at Scott and Virgil while he’s doing it,’ Gordon added.</p>
<p>John sighed in relief. They had a name, a point of contact. EOS was already redefining both search parameters, and not eight seconds later she added those magic words: ‘John, I have found the connection.’</p>
<p>Pulling up various records that Sally was not going to ask about, they began to see a trail that connected Mason and Jones with Appleton. It had been cleverly hidden, but once the name had been added, it had not taken much for Five, EOS and John to uncover the trail. Messages passed about a mutual acquaintance they were desperate to meet up with, information regarding the reunion, schematics of the school grounds and the electrical grid, how they would pull this off – it was all there, deleted of course, but easy to pull back if you knew how.</p>
<p>Bundling the information all together in a format that would be admissible in a court of law (yes, John had completed a degree so that he knew how to do this), John sent to over to the police as EOS started to pick something up.</p>
<p>‘John, there is an incoming transmission. It’s a recorded message’ He looked up as EOS began to play it. John hadn’t watched much when he stopped the play and contacted both the island, Two and FAB1.</p>
<p>‘Is Virgil up?’ he asked Kayo, only to see Virgil stumble into the room, struggling into his flannel shirt. ‘I’m here,’ Virgil replied, hating how rough he sounded. He had had his hour of sleep and wasn’t sure that he did feel any better for it.</p>
<p>‘What’s up, John?’ six voices asked at the same time.</p>
<p>‘There’s been a development.’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Scott's in deeper trouble than he thought.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 16: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Shoot the Hostage</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Good. You’re awake,’ said a voice he had hoped never to hear again.</p><p>Scott resisted the urge to allow his shoulders to sag, he wasn’t going to give them anything they could use against him, but hearing that voice confirmed his suspicions. This was not going to turn out well.</p><p>He heard two of them walk over to him, and he was roughly grabbed under his arms and dragged upright. It sounded like the third person was positioning a chair or something similar judging from the scraping noise. It was like his hearing was much clearer now he had been deprived of his sight.</p><p>He was pulled across the room and pushed down onto the chair, and two of them held him down on his shoulders while the third handcuffed his left leg to the chair leg. The one on his left clamped down hard on his shoulder, and Scott couldn’t help but flinch as his sore shoulder protested. This caused the hand to squeeze harder, and Scott would have gasped if he could. While this was happening the third person had untied his ankles and cuffed the right one to the chair.</p><p>It was a relief to Scott’s ankles. He had no idea that the cords were that tight until they had been removed, and his ankles promptly complained, pins and needles shooting up his legs in protest now that the blood was flowing again. He tried to flex his ankles to help, but it was almost impossible against the cuffs, and he got a cuff around his head for his trouble. It must have been where he had been hit before as his head exploded into stars and pain.  </p><p>The two either side of him now proceeded to force him to bend forward until his chest was resting on his thighs. He could hear one of them shuffle around to be in front of him while one stood behind, then they swapped roles. One kept their hands on Scott’s shoulders while the other yanked his arms up behind him. He couldn’t help but cry out as his arms were pulled up high, not that anyone could hear him, and the person in front started pushing him back while the person behind lifted his arms clear of the back of the chair.</p><p>Scott was thankful for the blindfold. It soaked up the tears that had involuntarily appeared at that manoeuvre. He wasn’t sure why they wanted his arms behind the chair back, but he felt just that little more helpless than before. That was probably their intent. His wrists were then cuffed to the lowest strut on the back, but the cords were not removed here. He was getting concerned about the length of time his hands had had no release from the bindings.  </p><p>During all this time only one of them had spoken. It didn’t really matter as Scott was fairly sure who at least one of the others was, but he was sure that they were trying to intimidate him further, make him more nervous. He told himself it wasn’t working, but he was no longer sure.</p><p>Suddenly there was pressure on his thighs as someone sat astride him, their hands resting on his chest. He wished his heart wasn’t hammering so much. The hands slowly moved up his chest, along his shoulders and to the back of his head, resting a moment. That manoeuvre had the person right up to Scott, and he could feel their breath on his face. It was only his iron-clad self-control that stopped him flinching away.</p><p>She gave a throaty chuckle. He was a cool one now, so much control! So impressive. Such a turn-on. But it was too late for that; much as she might have liked to have indulged they were on a tight deadline and she had been promised he would be all hers later…</p><p>She slid herself a little higher on his thighs as she reached around, taking hold of the knot to the gag. She could undo it, despite how tight it was, but she chose to yank it down as hard as she could. The object here was pain and control, not niceties. Much as she loved him, that was not their objective at all.</p><p>Having the tight gag yanked over his chin and down onto his neck tore the tender skin around his mouth, and Scott could feel where his lips had dried out and split, could taste blood as he ran his tongue over them to moisten them. She was still too close, but he could not dislodge her bound as he was.</p><p>Hannah ran her fingers over Scott’s lips, following the trail of his tongue. They were still dry and split and bleeding, and she smudged the blood as she did so, her touch ever so light, almost tender. This time Scott did try to move his head out of the way, and this incensed her greatly. Getting quickly off his lap she slapped him as hard as she could, feeling smug when it caused his lip to bleed more. She raised her hand again only for her arm to be caught short.</p><p>‘Enough.’ And there he was. Scott sighed inwardly. He had known it would turn out to be the two of them, and as usual Todd was still calling the shots. It had been unnerving with Hannah sitting astride him, but hearing Mason there as well gave him hope that nothing more was going to happen with Hannah.</p><p>What worried him more was who was the silent third person.</p><p>He listened as Mason pushed Hannah aside, as she protested that she wasn’t finished with him. She was silenced with her own slap, from whom Scott was not sure, but Hannah did not cry out or complain, and a tiny part of Scott fumed that a woman would be treated this way – even a woman like Hannah.</p><p>Todd made his way over to Scott slowly, relishing the power he felt. This was the one, the cause of all his troubles. He had been virtually guaranteed a football scholarship and a place as one of the worlds’ top quarterbacks. He was that good. But the minute Hannah, the slut, had become obsessed with Tracy everything had fallen apart. He lost everything due to one fingerprint and a daddy’s boy with more money than he could ever hope to have. He couldn’t afford to pay off the police and a lawyer to ensure he had a clean record like Tracy had done.</p><p>Placing his hand heavily on Scott’s left shoulder, he squeezed hard and was rewarded by a gasp of pain. Placing his mouth directly in front of Scott’s ear elicited another flinch. He was going to enjoy this. ‘You missing our Hannah as much as she’s been missing you, Tracy?’ he asked, enjoying Scott’s discomfort. ‘Don’t worry too much about her, she’ll leave you alone – for now.’ Todd stood up and let his words sink in. Scott was determined not to give him anything more – the flinch had been bad enough, damn this blindfold. Licking his sore lips again, he asked the question.</p><p>‘What do you want, Mason?’</p><p>Mason gave a bark of a laugh. ‘Want? I have everything I have ever wanted sitting right in front of me.’ Scott grimaced. Vengeful kidnappings did not have positive outcomes for the victims, and he had been hoping that money would be more of a motive, although he knew that accessing large amounts of money would require himself, his brothers could not authorise TI to access money. He only hoped that no-one else knew that.</p><p>Todd was walking around Scott, thinking about what he wanted to say. He had waited years to be able to say his piece, and this would be the only opportunity he would ever get. Mason was not stupid; he knew the third party here would be the one to profit the most from this venture. And it was a venture, he was acutely aware that he was only involved through sufferance and because of their shared history. How that had been discovered he did not know, but he was not going to lose the opportunity of even a little payback. Hannah had taken even less to persuade than he had.</p><p>Standing behind Scott gave Todd a feeling of happiness he had not known for a long time. Placing both hands on Scott’s shoulders, he sighed. He didn’t get the flinch he had hoped for, but Tracy had always been contained. </p><p>‘You ruined my life, Tracy. You got me expelled. I lost the scholarship I had lined up. No school, college or university would touch me. I didn’t even get my high school diploma. No job worth anything would hire me. I lost everything. Everything! My whole future!’ He had promised himself he wouldn’t get worked up, but he was close to losing it. Before it had even registered, Todd had grasped Scott’s hair and pulled his head back as far as he could and was shouting in his ear.</p><p>Scott let Mason rant. He knew the truth, but the truth was not something Todd wanted to hear. He bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself saying something he would regret, and almost bit it in two when his head was suddenly yanked back. He swallowed convulsively, he could barely breathe at this angle and swallowing was painful.</p><p>There was a clap from across the room and Mason let him go. The chair rocked back onto all four feet, and Scott tried to draw in a deep breath without being obvious about it. Still the third person had not said anything, but he/she was obviously in control. There were more sounds of things being opened and moved, and soon Todd’s hand landed back on his injured shoulder. He was glad he had not dislocated it. Hannah came and stood on his right side, hand on that shoulder. He could feel her trembling.</p><p>‘Right, Mr Tracy,’ said Todd. ‘We’re going to send your family a little message. All you need to do is say hi when I ask you to. Say anything else and you will regret it. Am I clear?’ Scott nodded. He had no doubt at all that this was just for show, they had no plans to release him later. But he would take that risk if it gave John and EOS something to go on.</p><p>Hannah started, her words obviously scripted and rehearsed. It still sounded like she was rambling, but then that was the nature of what was happening here.</p><p>‘Good morning, Tracy family. I believe that you are missing someone. Well, we don’t want you to worry anymore. Scott’s been having a wonderful time with us, haven’t you, Scott?’ He nodded, not trusting his voice. Hannah squeezed his shoulder and Mason took over talking.</p><p>‘We want you to pay restitution to us for the harm caused by events when we were 16-17 years old. Due to you older brother’s behaviour, we missed out on the rest of our lives while you got to move to a private island and become Thunderbirds. Well, we think it is time we had a share of that lifestyle.’ He paused, digging his fingertips into Scott’s shoulder until he couldn’t help but wince.</p><p>‘We want the sum of 10 million each for damages and loss of lifestyle.’ Todd paused again. He was enjoying this more than he ever thought he would. ‘And if you want your brother back, we want a Thunderbird. Any one will do, but no Thunderbird – no brother.’ Pause.</p><p>‘To show you we are serious about this, please watch.’ Hannah’s voice. ‘Shoot the hostage,’ she said.</p><p>There was a beat of silence, then the sound of a safety being released.<br/>
Scott tensed.<br/>
The gun fired.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Today's Special: Torture</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The aftermath of the gunshot</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 31: Today's Special: Torture: Left For Dead</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil watched, horrified, as the video played out. It was hard enough seeing his eldest brother bound and injured – he had not missed the wince, nor the bloody lips – but to hear the words ‘Shoot the hostage,’ he actually thought he was going to pass out. Good job he was sitting down…and then the gun fired.</p>
<p>Kayo’s anger at Scott’s kidnap was incandescent by the time she saw him tied up, half naked and blindfolded. With her fists clenched tightly by her sides, the expletives she could have uttered, and was uttering under her breath would have shocked many. She began to pace back and forth around the cockpit…and then the gun fired, and her heart dropped.</p>
<p>Penelope was sitting next to Virgil when the video had started to play. John had called her the same time he had called Virgil and Kayo, and, along with Parker, the four sat in the cockpit watching. She had automatically put her hand on Virgil’s arm as comfort and support, Penny knew how much he was beating himself up over Scott’s disappearance, and this video was just going to bring that home more. She couldn’t help putting her other hand over her mouth to hide her distress at seeing Scott like that, and when the gun went off she jumped dramatically.</p>
<p>While the video was playing EOS was examining the stream. All digital devices left traces, she just needed to find it. She noticed John’s sudden elevated heart rate, his sharp intake of breath, his cry of ‘oh, god, NO!’ but she partitioned that part of herself off, sending Tracy Island a quick alert to John’s condition, and concentrated on the task. She needed to find Scott Tracy, and from the sounds of it, she was running out of time.</p>
<p>Grandma had sat down rather heavily when the video started up, showing Scott in his undergarments, blindfolded and cuffed to a chair. She didn’t fail to miss the wince either, and by this time Alan and Gordon were sitting beside her, both hugging her tightly. She couldn’t help but gasp out loud when the girl said they were going to shoot her eldest, but when the gun went off…it was like she was drowning in cotton wool – she could hear her grandsons calling her name, but they seemed a long way off…</p>
<p>Gordon and Alan sat and hugged their Grandmother tightly. No matter that they were adults (sort of – ok no they weren’t) and they worked for International Rescue, they were still younger brothers whose oldest brother was in danger, and there wasn’t a thing more that they could do. When the gun went off they both jumped, but their concern was immediately transferred to their grandma. She had cried out and now it seemed she and passed out. Alan patted her hand while Gordon patted her cheek. Their Grandma was made of Kansas Steel though, she came around almost immediately, and the three fell into another tight hug.</p>
<p>Brains and MAX were in the silo, looking up at Thunderbird One. MAX had the video playing on the screen, and when he heard the demand for a Thunderbird or they wouldn’t let Scott go, he’d immediately began to look and see if he could adapt one of them so that they could give away a ship without giving away the technology. He hadn’t heard the command to shoot, so he jumped a mile when the shot rang out, echoing around the unusually quiet silo. He rushed back upstairs.</p>
<p>Colonel Casey was getting frustrated. The boys had informed her of Scott’s disappearance almost immediately, but as commanding officer of the GDF, she had other responsibilities besides her godsons. But two-and-a-half hours after Scott had gone missing she had arrived and taken over the investigation, much to the relief of both the Tracy family and the local police.</p>
<p>So when Gordon and Alan had forwarded the information regarding Fred Appleton, she eagerly sent her men to bring him in. But he had disappeared. As had Scott’s friend Robert Denver. Casey would normally have dismissed Robert because of Scott’s friendship – the Tracy’s were a bright bunch when it came to fake friends – but the idea that two key players were missing was too much of a coincidence.</p>
<p>The demand video only turned her frustration into anger, into focus. The threat was terrifying the godmother side of her, though, and she stood stony faced as Rigby joined her in watching the gun go off…</p>
<p>She drew in a deep breath and commenced barking out orders. ‘Rigby find me this Robert Denver and Fred Appleton. Do it yesterday. You there, Flanders, go get International Rescue and bring them here with coffee.’ Waiting until she was alone she called out, knowing he would be listening: ‘John, anything?’ His hologram appeared and he shook his head. ‘Not yet, but we haven’t finished looking. Gordon is going to bring us over; our ETA is around half an hour.’ Casey nodded and signed off. If anyone would find Scott, she’d lay money on it being John.</p>
<p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p>
<p>Scott tensed.<br/>The gun fired.</p>
<p>In the milliseconds between the click of the safety and the bullet hitting him, Scott prayed. He prayed to his mom to keep watching over his brothers as he could no longer. He prayed to his dad for forgiveness. He prayed to a god he had no belief in for one last chance to see his family. In his mind’s eye he could see his four brothers, Kayo, Grandma, Brains, Penny and Parker the last time they had got together, and he held tightly to that vision. He wished he could reassure Virgil that it was not his fault.</p>
<p> There was the sound of an impact, and a warm, sticky substance sprayed over the right side of Scott’s face. He flinched back from it but was shocked to find he was alright.</p>
<p>He was alright.</p>
<p>He let go the breath he had been holding while his brain caught up with the fact he had not been shot.</p>
<p>He had not been shot.<br/>He had not been shot.<br/>But someone had.<br/>Someone whose blood was splattered over Scott’s face.</p>
<p>Oh god, they had shot Hannah! Scott’s mind raced. Was it an accident? Did they simply miss him, and would they try again? He struggled to process what had happened. Then Todd’s hand clamped down on his shoulder and Scott was once again grounded in the here and now.</p>
<p>Which reminded Scott that his family would still be watching. They would have thought that bullet was meant for him, he certainly had. Scott took a deep breath and sat himself up straighter, as much as he could.</p>
<p>‘I’m sorry about that,’ Todd continued. ‘I couldn’t let Hannah stick around, she’s too much of a liability.’ Again Todd bent down and stage-whispered into Scott’s ear. ‘You should be grateful to me, Tracy. The things she had planned for you! Whew!’ Squeezing his shoulder again, Mason continued talking into the camera. ‘You can see that I mean what I say. 20 million and a Thunderbird. You have 4 hours.’</p>
<p>The sounds of equipment being put away did not hide the noises of distress and moaning coming from Hannah. She wasn’t dead. Yet. Unsure of whether Mason was still behind him or not, Scott called out to him, ‘Todd – you can’t leave her like that, she’ll die if she doesn’t get treatment.’</p>
<p>‘So what,’ came Todd’s voice from across the room. ‘This is all her fault anyway. If she hadn’t had made a play for you we would never had come to this. Good riddance.’ Scott was appalled. No one deserved to bleed out, to be left for dead like this. Having been shot himself, Scott knew the pain Hannah would be in. There wasn’t much he could do. Glancing over to where he assumed Hannah might be he spoke to the air, ‘you need to apply pressure to the wound, as hard as you can manage, OK?’</p>
<p>Suddenly his head was yanked back, and Mason was screaming in his ear again. ‘I told you to leave her. Why don’t you just shut up!’ he ranted, pushing Scott away from himself, causing the chair to overbalance. With no way to support himself Scott crashed down hard, his chin hitting the floor first, followed by his nose. He felt the crunch and the blood.</p>
<p>The third person cleared their throat. Mason sighed heavily and stomped back over to Scott, picking the chair up and setting it down. He smirked at the damage to Tracy’s face, and proceeded to make it worse by forcing the gag back into Scott’s mouth. He then pulled the chair back on two legs and dragged it a short distance before righting it, giving Scott’s shoulder another squeeze as he went past.</p>
<p>Scott was going to have a wicked bruise there, along with one on his chin and nose. His nose had crunched on landing, but he didn’t think he’d actually broken it. Scott thought about who the silent partner is. His initial thought had obviously been the Hood, but this silence and the shooting was uncharacteristic of him, and he had started to revise his opinion. However, the man – and Scott’s fairly sure it’s a male by the cough from earlier – has stayed well away from him.</p>
<p>Hearing the door slam brough silence to the room. It’s not an absolute one, though. He can still hear Hannah’s rasping, ragged breathing, and it’s getting weaker all the time.</p>
<p>He can’t believe Mason’s left her for dead, that he’s being tortured by being forced to listen to her dying breaths, can’t believe he’s not going to be able to save her, can’t help thinking this is all his fault.</p>
<p>He should never have come.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Now Where Did That Come From?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A rescue, but is it enough?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 30: Now Where Did That Come From? Wound Reveal.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘I’m sorry.’</p><p>She’d said it so quietly that Scott almost missed it. Mason had pulled him away from Hannah, and he could barely hear her breathing anymore. But the room was silent and the strained, quiet voice carried to him. </p><p>‘I really am, although I’d understand if you don’t believe me.’</p><p>He wanted to tell her to stop talking, to save her breath, save her strength. Save her life. But he couldn’t. All he could do was listen. So he did.</p><p>‘Do you know when I first fell in love with you? We were 13, almost 14 I think. I brought my Daddy to school for Career Day, he was insistent. But he was drunk, and everybody laughed at him. Except for you. You sat there in the middle with that serious expression on your face, like you were going to learn something anyway.</p><p>‘Then Daddy pulled me out of class, and I didn’t go back for the rest of the week. When I did I was sporting a nice shiner, and everybody avoided me. Except for you and John. You made me sit with you and you gave me your piece of pie. </p><p>‘When your Mom came and picked you up, she took one look, sent John home with the others and marched right on up to our house. We sat outside while my Daddy and your Momma screamed at each other.</p><p>‘I don’t know what she did, but he never hit me again. And that’s when I first fell in love with you.’</p><p>Scott’s throat and chest had tightened at the sudden memory. It was the only time he had ever seen his Mom yell at anyone, and it had been an awesome sight. He’d forgotten it was Hannah.</p><p>She drew in a wet, ragged breath. Hannah had to tell Scott so that he understood. It was a compulsion, now that she was pretty sure there was no way out of this.</p><p>‘You never were interested in more than friendship though, and I drifted away from you. Fell in with Todd and his crowd. I loved the attention, thrived on it even. And then, on my 16th birthday, there you were again, all concerned and rescuing me. Todd and I had had a huge fight and he’d left me. I’m not sure you were aware of it, but I’m sitting in the dining hall alone again, and you smiled at me, tossed me your apple and carried on.</p><p>‘That’s when I fell in love with you all over again. Only, now I thought I could actually get you to like me, to love me back. I didn’t realise what I was doing, back then. I honestly thought that if I could show you that Alan liked me, that you’d like me too. It never occurred to me that only certain people could take a kid out of school.</p><p>‘They made me see a psychiatrist, the court did, and she was really good. She helped me with my feelings and actions. I wrote hundreds of letters to you, apologising, and we burnt them all. She helped me so much.</p><p>‘But then six months ago I get a call. It was all being arranged to get back at you and do I want to help? Do I? I didn’t really, I’d come to terms with everything, but then the voice was quite insistent: I needed revenge, I needed closure, and then: I can have you when they were done.</p><p>‘It’s like the intervening years never happened and you and I could finally be together. I can’t believe I fell right back into the trap.’</p><p>Scott could hear Hannah starting to move, and he shouted at her through the gag to stop. She stilled for a bit, but then started speaking again.</p><p>‘Todd, he never said that he blamed me. I – I never knew. I thought that he’d forgiven me. How stupid I have been! So many if’s, so many if’s.’ Her voice was failing now, and Scott was not surprised to find he had been crying. For his beautiful, feisty Mom. For Hannah, who’s life had been hard and tragic and didn’t deserve this ending. For his family and the stress this was putting them through.</p><p>For himself, though, for himself there was nothing. He should have read the signs. He should not have come. It had been a perfect set-up and he had fallen straight into it.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>The collective sigh when the video showed Scott was still whole was pretty loud. John was sure that everyone around them could hear it, and the looks of relief were soon replaced with a mixture of anger and concern, maybe even a little guilt – after all, the girl had been shot.</p><p>They had arrived in Kansas exactly 27.4 minutes after that video had aired. It had taken John 5.8 minutes to set up his three computers and get straight into the system, EOS in his ear. Virgil calculated that Scott had now been missing 5 hours, 39 minutes and 29 seconds. 30. 31. He shook the timer from his head.</p><p>There was less than three and a half hours for them to find and rescue Scott. That countdown had been made very clear. However, Mason had not passed on any information regarding how the payoff was going to occur, so they were expecting another video at any point.</p><p>Gordon and Alan were out with Rigby in another office trying to track Robert Denver and Fred Appleton down. Both had been interviewed by the police and released. Virgil had noticed Robert needed help leaving the school hall, and he had queried if he’s been taken to hospital. It appeared that Robert had not mentioned it to the police, and neither did the other two, probably assuming he would.</p><p>Appleton had been questioned the same as everybody else, and he had been recorded as saying he had not been near Scott all night. This was true and had been supported by the CCTV in the hall.</p><p>What the CCTV did show on closer inspection was some of the events as the power went out. It appeared that the cameras had not stopped recording immediately, some form of internal power had kept them recording for almost a full minute. And in that minute Gordon found a clue. </p><p>The doors next to the corner where Scott was sitting had opened almost simultaneously to the power cut. In that one minute two people had turned towards Scott’s group, but Robert had stood up to stop them, getting clobbered by what looked like an old-fashioned wooden baseball bat. The recording stopped there. </p><p>It explained one mystery and created another. Now they knew why Robert had needed to be assisted out by Chad and James. But how did he know what was going to happen? They needed to find him – fast.</p><p>John and EOS were a well-oiled machine. John had been lethal with his computer since he was around eleven; but adding the processing power that EOS presented made his brother and his daughter unstoppable. Unfortunately, that did not necessarily equate to fast immediate results, and while John’s fingers were flying, time was passing. Whoever that third party was, they were good at computers and covering their tracks. But John and EOS would get them. </p><p>The school had opened up the offices at the front of the school, along with six classrooms, and everyone had moved indoors to continue whatever the hell they were doing. The Tracy’s had been moved into the reception area, the largest area available, and Val had moved with them, the other offices containing her staff and some police assigned to work with them.</p><p>John shouted the same time the next video came in. EOS had found them. They had followed the signal as it bounced and bounced and bounced. There had been multitudes of dead ends and hidden pathways. But between them they had narrowed it down. John set the program he had devised to track the next video; it had a hunter virus attached that would strip away the security and confirm the location. Colonel Casey had been about to leave, but she felt the need to be with her family. Rigby was already gearing up a team.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>Scott didn’t know how long it had been since Hannah had spoken last, but it had been a while he had sat listening to her weakening breathing. He was so frustrated with himself. So he set himself a task. Who is the third person?</p><p>It was not the Hood – his first fear. No way the Hood would had not been part of the last message, nor would he take orders from Hannah.</p><p>Who would benefit from him being here? Who, other than Todd and Hannah, wanted some kind of payback? To his frustration Scott couldn’t think of anyone. Hannah had been working alone. Todd had wanted revenge for Hannah switching to him. He wished his head didn’t hurt so much.</p><p>Then it hit him. The drugs. Where did the drugs come from? Was there someone at the school who lost out to Scott’s supposed drug bust? All he could think about was the obvious – someone had been dealing, and the resultant drug search had curtailed their activities. Before he could even consider working out who, the door banged open.</p><p>Mason surveyed the room. Hannah had moved slightly from where he had left her, and he couldn’t believe she was still breathing. Scott was where he had been left. He had to say he was a little disappointed that Scott hadn’t made more of an effort to get free, maybe they really had trussed him up too tightly. </p><p>He walked around so that he was again standing behind Scott. It was almost time to send another video. It was one hour since the last, and this time they were going to up the ante. Boss man wanted them to be kept on their toes regarding what they would do, are doing, to their brother. Boss man had a lot of anger, and he had been surprised when he had been contacted to carry this scheme out. It wasn’t until after the first video that he found out just what the connection between the four of them was. He just hoped the boss wouldn’t shoot him too.</p><p>Scott was hyperaware of Todd standing behind him as the sounds of the camera being set up in front of him ceased. He hadn’t touched him yet, but Scott knew he would. Mason wouldn’t be able to resist. And sure enough he put his hands down heavily, squeezing again. But Scott was ready, and he did not flinch at all. He could almost hear Todd grind his teeth in rage.</p><p>This time they left the gag in. Todd was beginning to speak about money and arrangements, but Scott found his focus was fading in and out. He frowned at himself. Something didn’t feel quite right about this. He minutely shook his head, hoping that Mason wouldn’t notice, but no such luck.</p><p>In the middle of telling the family how to arrange the money transfer, Mason was incensed to feel Scott shake his head. Really? He was telling them not to do it? Fisting his hand in Scott’s hair and yanking his head back, for a moment Todd thought he had snapped Scott’s neck as Scott’s head lolled freely rather than the tenseness he had been expecting. Still, it played into what the boss had suggested they should do next.</p><p>Pulling out a knife that he’d brought for the occasion, he laid the length of the blade against Scott’s throat and made a show of pulling it along until only the tip was touching. He applied just enough pressure for a thin line and a bead of blood to appear before removing it and letting go, pushing Scott away as he did. He looked to the boss, wondering if they had done enough, and the boss nodded.</p><p>There was a small snake of a concern over Scott’s reaction to him. It had changed in seconds, going from tense and prepared when he had clasped Scott’s shoulders to barely there when he had grabbed his head. Then Todd dismissed it. So what if something was wrong – it’s not like they would do anything.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>The video had been greeted with more fury and anger by all except Grandma and Virgil. They had not failed to notice the abrupt change in how Scott had reacted to Mason. As the connection was cut, all four boys along with Rigby, Kayo and Penny had ran to Two. They needed to get to Scott NOW.</p><p>Virgil’s hands were shaking on the yoke. While he was preparing the launch sequence he was running over in his head what could be wrong with his big brother. What could cause such a sudden change in demeanour? Scott didn’t seem to have any visible injuries except his shoulder and the bruising to his face that had not been present before. He must have a hidden one, something else was going on.</p><p>Fortunately, they were only fifteen minutes away from the landing site and then only a further five before they would be rescuing Scott. He only hoped that, whatever this hidden injury was, that it would be quick enough.</p><p>Two was buzzing. They were finally going to rescue Scott. They all had their parts to play, and Virgil would be first in line. EOS had provided schematics of the building, on the edge of an industrial estate full of warehouses, and the exact room where Scott was being held had been marked. EOS had not discovered any counter measures to prevent their entry – it seemed the kidnappers were supremely confident that they simply would not be found.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>As soon as Mason had let his hair go, Scott’s head had rolled forward onto his chest. If he had not been blindfolded he was pretty sure he would be blinking his eyes to clear the fuzzy headedness he was feeling. He didn’t even have the energy to lift his head up any more. In some remote area of his brain he could hear someone that sounded like Virgil shouting at him that something was very wrong, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do anything.</p><p>The door slamming surprised him, and he wondered briefly if he had lost consciousness for a couple of minutes. Even when, a couple of minutes later, he felt a sticky hand on his ankle he did not, could not respond.</p><p>Hannah had decided. There was little left she could do, but she had been watching the scene play out in front of her, and she had also noticed the change in Scott. There was only one thing she could do to help him now, and it took a colossal effort to crawl over to where he was sitting.</p><p>Grabbing his ankle in one bloody hand, she attempted to unlock the cuff. It wasn’t easy – she had little strength left and the movement from the angle she was in was difficult. It took almost five minutes for each foot, and by that time she was spent, laying down behind the chair. She didn’t have the energy to reach up to his hands.</p><p>It was the faint sounds of commotion that roused Scott. He had not been aware at all that his ankles had been uncuffed, and in his current unfocused state he was unsure what to do about it. There was a nagging in the back of his mind that something was important, but he couldn’t work out what it was. After he had gotten hold of Gordon and Alan and told them off for tying him up he would spend some time trying to work it out. Right now he was going back to bed.</p><p>Virgil burst through the door followed closely by John, Gordon and Alan. They had not time to think about anything other than get Scott to safety. Gordon and Alan went straight to Hannah while John helped Virgil free Scott’s wrists. They shared concern that Scott had not responded to them at all. Virgil set the scanner to work while John gently held Scott still in the chair. He looked over to Gordon and Gordon shook his head. They were just that little bit too late.</p><p>The scanner showed up badly bruised ankles, wrists, shoulder, chin and nose, and then alarms were sounding. Virgil was yelling for the stretcher and Scott was quickly but gently strapped in and they were running.</p><p>They may have rescued their brother, but the scan had revealed a hidden wound.</p><p>Not only did Scott have a head injury, he had a subdural haematoma. Time was of the essence if they were to not only save his life, but also to prevent any long-term effects.</p><p>The timer was running.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For LMC25 and her idea of 'on a timer' - here are three countdowns for you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. I Think I Need A Doctor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hospital waiting...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 29: I Think I Need A Doctor: Intubation, Emergency Room</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kansas to Baltimore is approximately 1,070 miles by car. Baltimore was where Johns Hopkins Hospital was. Johns Hopkins was still the number one hospital for neurology and neurosurgery in America. Scott needed neurosurgery.</p><p>Thunderbird Two had a cruising speed of 2,000 mph. While not as fast as her sister, One, she was the fastest heavy-equipment transponder in the world. She could fly them from Kansas to Baltimore, Maryland in a little over 30 minutes pushing that speed all the way. </p><p>But Scott may not have 30 minutes.</p><p>So once the VTOL’s had lifted her off the ground, Virgil throttled up to maximum speed. 5,000 mph was going to get them there in just over 10 minutes. The GDF were scrambling to clear the airspace before them and they were waiting for no-one. Once Two was set in her path, Virgil handed over control to Gordon and hurried down to the infirmary. Gordon sat grim-faced and accepted the handover. Virgil’s medical expertise was more essential now.  </p><p>While they had been taking off John and Alan had prepped Scott for the surgery he would undoubtedly be undergoing. They had removed his t-shirt and attached him to the ECG. The readings were not brilliant. Alan had started to clean up the blood from off his brother’s ankles, desperate to be able to help in some way. They hadn’t touched the cervical collar keeping Scott’s head and neck still.</p><p>Once Virgil joined them he took over, directing them to get medical supplies ready. First priority: getting Scott fitted with a drip and a cannula. That was the easy part. Instructing John to keep an eye on the ICP reading on the monitor, he checked over the equipment. RSI involved administering a neuromuscular blocker directly followed by a sedative and then the endotracheal tube. He had the medication – succinylcholine for the blocking agent, ketamine for the sedative (and thank goodness Scott wasn’t allergic to either), but the risks of RSI in the case of head trauma was still high.</p><p>Keeping Scott in a neutral cervical spine position would make the procedure more complicated, and they knew he had no neck injury, so the collar was removed, an extra pillow was placed under Scott’s head and his head was tilted slightly into the sniffing position. Virgil took a deep breath and started. With John watching the numbers so Virgil could concentrate on his own task, it took 50 seconds from injecting the first drug to the successful insertion of the tube. John notice a small spike in ICP, but it held after a couple of seconds.</p><p>Now it was just a case of keeping Scott monitored until they arrived, less than 5 minutes now. </p><p>Sally had kept the comms open all the time, and she listened while Virgil successfully intubated his brother. Switching to the trauma team waiting at the hospital she informed them of the success and the medications already given Scott. The team were both impressed and grateful. They had already received the scans of Scott’s brain and had prepped for a craniotomy.</p><p>Gordon brought Two in hot and landed right in front of the emergency department. They would be buying people new cars, but that was the least of his worries. The hospital team were already on their way over as he lifted Two up to provide easier access to the infirmary. And then he watched them rushing his oldest brother away with Virgil and Alan in tow. It didn’t register at first that John had not followed, not until John’s hand gently rested on his arm did Gordon look up into John’s concerned face.</p><p>John helped Gordon from the chair and gave him a brief but heartfelt hug. ‘You did well getting us here, Gordon,’ he said quietly in Gordon’s ear; and he was rewarded with a quiet sob as Gordon buried his head in John’s shoulder. It was all the release Gordon needed, and he was already pulling away to leave. ‘Thanks, Johnny, that means a lot,’ he threw over his shoulder as he left. John grinned to himself and followed.</p><p>They were directed to Virgil and Alan in a private waiting room just of the main emergency room. Collapsing next to Virgil, Gordon asked, ‘how long will the procedure take?’ Virgil sighed. ‘On average the craniotomy takes around three hours, but it will depend on whether there are any other issues.’ Gordon nodded, satisfied with that answer. Alan eyed him and Virgil, deciding to sit next to his immediately older brother before asking what they would do during surgery. Virgil’s eyebrow raised slightly – Alan didn’t normally want to know details.</p><p>‘You sure you want to know?’ he asked. Alan nodded. John took this as a cue to go get everyone a coffee. He did not want to know.</p><p>‘Ok, if you think it will help. They’ll insert a catheter, we don’t carry them, and then they’ll shave the hair around where they’re going to operate on.’ All three winced at that thought.<br/>‘Then they’ll cut a flap in his scalp and pull it away and use a saw to cut out a piece of his skull. Next they cut through the dura mater, the outer membrane of the brain, and using a gentle suction, they’ll remove the blood and see if there’s any other damage that needs to be sorted out. Then they will stitch the tissue back together, replace the piece of bone and attach it with probably a plate or wires, stitch the skin and bandage his head.’</p><p>By this time Alan looked a little green and wished he hadn’t asked. He was broken from his thoughts by the arrival of Grandma, Kayo, Penny, Parker and Aunt Val. They all exchanged hugs and settled down to wait while Parker went to help John with the coffee.</p><p>Four hours in total the operation took. By the time the surgeon appeared everybody except for Gordon and Alan was hyped up on strong coffee and nerves. The large gentle smile on the woman’s face was both welcome and reassuring.</p><p>‘Tracy family, I assume?’ It was Sally who answered yes. Everyone here was family. ‘Then I have good news. The operation was successful, a small tear in a vein was repaired and everything replaced. Barring further complications, there is no reason why Scott shouldn’t make a complete recovery.’ She was bombarded with hugs and questions as everyone started talking at once.</p><p>Holding up her hands, she continued, ‘the next 48 hours will be crucial in his recovery – as long as there are not complications he should be fine. He is very fit and active, and this will help. The main thing to look out for in the post-op period is that he doesn’t get a temperature spike due to an infection or because his brain cannot cope with regulating his temperature. This is actually quite common after brain surgery, so don’t be too worried if it occurs.’</p><p>‘What about his long-term prognosis, Mrs Patel?’ Virgil asked. He got a beaming smile for using her correct form of address as she answered him, ‘it’s actually pretty good. Even only 5 years ago we would be looking at 6-12 months rehabilitation time, but this is how Scott’s immediate future looks:</p><p>‘He’ll be here with us for one week. During this time he will be kept on oxygen and his head raised for 2-3 days, his legs will be fitted with Flotron boots to minimise any possibility of a DVT and his catheter will stay in probably 5-6 days. </p><p>‘After that Scott will go home and need rehab for about 6 weeks. He may need assistance with walking and his balance, he will find he has little strength and he will need physio to rebuild this.</p><p>‘Getting back to work will be a slow process, but if managed carefully Scott should suffer no long-term effects at all. And, yes I have been briefed, he will still be able to fly at the speeds I understand his ship flies at, but not for around 3 months, and certainly not before a thorough check-up.’</p><p>Virgil let out a breath he had not realised he was holding. Scott was going to be out of action a minimum of four and a half months! This was not going to be easy on any of them, least of all Scott. Gordon would help with the physio side of treatment, and the family would rally around, but a part of Virgil wished he could do more to help. After all, this was his fault.</p><p>Sally watched Virgil carefully. She had her eye on him and on Alan, already seeing signs in Virgil that he was blaming himself. Her grandsons were amazing people, but the Tracy way of taking on blame for what befell each other was one of the banes of her life. She wondered how long it would be before Alan showed signs of this. No matter – she needed to snap Virgil out of it soon, although she was pretty sure only one person could do that.</p><p>Mrs. Patel had said that they could now visit Scott, although he was still unconscious, but only two at a time and only for a couple of minutes. Once Scott was settled in a room in ICU then they could stay longer, but still only two at a time. They let Virgil and Alan go first. Sally was desperate to get Virgil to go to bed. He needed sleep, and better now while Scott was still out of it. Once Scott was awake they would never be able to tear Virgil away.</p><p>The argument about getting a hotel room and Virgil sleeping never materialised. Once he had seen Scott and returned to let John and Gordon in, Virgil had sat down and promptly fallen asleep. Penny and EOS arranged a hotel nearby, and Virgil slept through being transferred to FAB1 in a wheelchair, the drive to the hotel, being placed back in the wheelchair and taken upstairs to his room.</p><p>He awoke 12 hours later when John called him to say that Scott was awake.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Medical terms:<br/>ICP: Inter Cranial Pressure<br/>RSI: Rapid Sequence Intubation<br/>Flowtron boots: a pair of wrap-around attachments applied to the lower legs that are attached to a pump and are inflated/deflated to stimulate blood circulation.<br/>The medications used are standard for RSI procedures in most countries.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. I Don't Feel So Well</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Scott's out of surgery and in recovery. Will it all be plain sailing from here?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whumptober Prompt 21: I Don't Feel So Well: Chronic Pain</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sally had decided she quite liked Johns Hopkin Hospital. The staff were very amenable, they had treated them all with respect, but mostly – Sally loved the way the staff looked after her eldest grandson.</p><p>They had moved Scott into a private room that had an extra room with a bed almost like an annex. So while Virgil slept, and everyone was on strict instructions not to wake him yet, she commandeered this room. </p><p>Mrs Patel had been delighted to find that not only did Sally understand her medicalese, Sally herself had experience as a field doctor. They had spent almost an hour talking what sounded like gobbledegook to Gordon and Alan, but by the end Sally had felt far more reassured that Scott really was in the best hands.</p><p>The biggest concern had to be Scott coming down with an infection. He had immediately been started on an antibiotic regime to prevent this occurrence. The other immediate concern was temperature regulation. Quite often this occurred after surgery on the brain because the trauma meant the brain had too much else to concentrate on.</p><p>The surgeon had briefed them all on some of the more common side effects of the surgery performed so that they could all watch out for any signs and symptoms. The knowledge was sobering to them all – Scott was not out of danger yet. There was the danger of infection, and although he was on antibiotics that did not guarantee complete immunity. There was the danger of a further bleed – either a haemorrhage or a blood clot like a DVT – both of which could cause a stroke.</p><p>But the side effect that worried them all was a seizure. Having one quite soon after surgery would be a common side effect as the brain heals, but if they occurred later on it could be an indication of a neurological condition that might require medicating – which would almost certainly stop Scott from flying again, possibly forever. Grandma told them off for worrying over something they had no control off.</p><p>It was unnerving to see Scott lying in his bed, half his head shaved and hooked up to an array of monitors. His bed was tilted so he was sitting up about 45°. At least they had removed the endotracheal tube and he was breathing on his own, the beeping of the heart monitor a reassurance all of its’ own.</p><p>He’d been slow to come around after the surgery. The family had been told anything from half an hour to two or three hours. In the end Scott started stirring after nearly two hours. There were tests done while he was barely conscious and he was asleep again within a couple of minutes, but the staff were happy he was alright to be moved to the private room prepared for him.</p><p>Over the course of the next eight hours Scott woke up several times but only managed a few minutes of incoherence before falling asleep again. But by the time Virgil had been asleep for twelve hours Scott had managed to stay awake for almost 15 minutes. Sally decided it was time to let Virgil know, and gave John the dubious honour of waking him and then going to fetch him</p><p>By the time John arrived Virgil had showered and was waiting outside. He jumped into the car almost before John stopped, and he demanded details. How John survived the drive back without Virgil killing him for not being woken when Scott first stirred he did not know. What John did know was he was glad his Grandmother was there to take charge.</p><p>Colonel Casey had stopped being Aunt Val as soon as Scott had woken up, rushing back to Kansas with a view to overseeing the interrogation of Todd Mason. She had not told the Tracy’s yet, but the third person had disappeared, and they were no closer to working out who it was. If Todd refused to talk, as looked likely, then she would talk to John about it.</p><p>Penny and Parker had returned with the Colonel, they had their own investigations to conclude, and Kayo had been pleased that this was not all being left in the hands of the GDF. Colonel Casey might be godmother to the Tracy boys, but that had not stopped the organisation failing them on multiple occasions.</p><p>Kayo and Gordon had gone to rustle up some edible breakfast. Not that the food here wasn’t edible – it was – they just wanted some fresh air and pancakes. Hospital food did not stretch to pancakes, or waffles, for breakfast.</p><p>But Virgil had eyes only for Scott. His brother looked a mess, with lopsided hair and black and yellow eyes. His other injuries had also been looked at – the slight cut across his throat was not deep enough to merit any treatment, but his hands and ankles were bandaged, and his left arm was held to his chest in a sling.</p><p>Scott had wondered what was going on. He seemed to be waking up and going to sleep with alarming frequency, and it did not help that different people were present each time he woke up. Seeing Virgil for the first time put his mind at ease. There was no place for Virgil to hug his brother like he wanted, so he settled for a gentle squeeze of his right shoulder, stretching across the machinery to do so. Scott tried for a smile, but it didn’t feel right.</p><p>He made it 18 minutes before falling asleep again.</p><p>The family held a conference when Kayo and Gordon returned, eating as they spoke as they wanted this conversation finished before Scott next woke up. Sally took the lead.</p><p>‘The next few weeks are going to be very hard on everyone. Mrs Patel and I have been discussing what kinds of things we are going to need to help Scott with and she had given me a list of feelings and things that he is probably going to go through. I’m going to list them first, then you can ask questions regarding particular points you want more information on.’ They all nodded their agreement.</p><p>‘One: He’s going to have a sore throat for a few days due to the tube. This may well affect his speaking, so don’t worry if he’s croaky.</p><p>‘Two: He’s going to be drugged up at least the week he is here and for a good few weeks after. He’ll be loopy at first from the pain relief, but he will also be moody from the steroids. No pictures, Gordon.</p><p>‘Three: Scott might find one or more of his senses will go into hyperdrive so if he reacts to you in some way be understanding. Gordon, you may need to be a little quieter.</p><p>‘Four: He will forget words and struggle to talk for a while. Couple this with an attention span of nothing, and he will get frustrated.</p><p>‘Five: He will sleep a lot. We need to encourage him to sleep and take his meds. Scott will hate both of those, but he will heal quicker.</p><p>‘Six: Scott will probably be more emotional as he tries to process things. Help him as much as you can. Do not tell him he already knows this and only needs to remember.</p><p>‘And above all else, he will be in a lot of pain for a long time’</p><p>They all sat in silence as they digested the information along with their food. Concern for Scott’s long-term recovery was balanced by the staff who were treating him saying how well he was already doing. Sally then discussed with her grandsons how they were going to roster IR into caring and staying with Scott for the next week or so.</p><p>As expected, Virgil was adamant he was staying, as was Sally herself. Alan was tasked to One, while John and Gordon were to use Two. But they would also alternate with Virgil and Sally so that they could have some rest time, despite Virgil’s protests.</p><p>It took almost three days for Scott to be able to stay awake longer than a couple of hours. He had a constant headache and just felt awful. What was worst was he was in chronic pain down his left side. They had run tests on his reflexes every day to ensure everything was healing well, but the pain relief was barely touching the issue.</p><p>The surgeon explained that chronic pain was often a symptom of the healing process as the brain tries to recreate connections lost during surgery, and she had already got him started on some light exercises to stretch his legs and right arm. They were torturous, but he was determined. He was a Tracy – with all the stubbornness that came with the name. </p><p>Gordon and John took it in turns with Virgil to help Scott with the stretching exercises three times a day. It was awful seeing how much pain Scott was in despite the amount of medication he was on, but they gritted their teeth as hard as Scott did and the four of them were determined. By the end of the day Scott was so exhausted he would sleep right through the night, while one of them kept vigil beside him.</p><p>They had not allowed any visitors other than family, so it was with some surprise that a half-awake John witnessed Scott’s room door open at 2.30 the next morning. Scott was asleep and Virgil was asleep next door, Gordon, Alan and Kayo had gone on a rescue that EOS was monitoring, and Grandma had retired to the hotel for one night of undisturbed sleep.</p><p>“Nurses do not open room doors that slowly,” was the thought that sprang up, and John was instantly alert, silently and carefully sending a comms alert to Virgil and everyone else. He hoped that Virgil wouldn’t just barge in – they needed to know what was going on – and John closed his eyes so that it looked like he was asleep in the chair.</p><p>The door eventually opened fully. No squeaking sound – great for him but infuriating all the same. It was galling what money could buy these days, and the young man before him did not deserve the privilege he had. He was not the only Tracy in the room, that was a shame, but it would not stop him from finishing his work. He was halfway across the room before a large hand on his shoulder stopped him and spun him around.</p><p>Virgil had been woken up by John’s alert and immediately went to the door. It was quiet, so he slowly opened it a touch to see what was going on. Immediately alert to the danger his two older brothers were facing, he crept up behind the man making his way across the room. Placing his hand on the man’s shoulder, he spun him around so that they were face to face.</p><p>All hell broke loose.</p><p>But it was a short-lived fight. No-one got the better of Virgil when his brothers were in danger, and this person was no different. Grabbing hold of the guy’s right hand, he squeezed the wrist until the person dropped the syringe they were carrying and proceeded to twist his arm up behind his back while forcing him to his knees. John retrieved the syringe carefully. Scott slept on.</p><p>Kayo, Gordon and Alan burst into the room just as the nurses were arriving, alerted by the call bell John had activated. John Virgil exchanged glances. They now knew the identity of the third man, and they took great delight in handing him over to Kayo, knowing that this was the last piece of the puzzle.</p><p>David April had hated the Tracy boys from the first time he had to teach Scott. Scott learnt science like he was a sponge – soaking up the information the first time and not needing any repetition. If he though Scott was bad, John was worse. John already knew it before April taught it and he acted as if he was smarter than everyone. And Virgil was almost a carbon copy of Scott. The three picked everything up immediately and coasted through class.</p><p>But what made it worse was when that idiot Mason tried to frame Scott for taking drugs. Because the school came down hard, and April, as the main supplier, found his secondary business dwindle to almost nothing. He needed that money just to stay afloat – a teacher’s wages were pitiful – and once again the Tracy’s were making his life difficult.</p><p>His house was repossessed, and his wife left him. And he festered and he waited. So when the school proposed to use some of the money Jeff Tracy continued to invest in them to rebuild the library and add a small planetarium, he saw his opportunity and he took it.</p><p>Too bad that John really was smarter than he was. But it was all over now. The evidence against him was overwhelming, especially when they found out what was in the syringe, and the GDF would not let him go free.</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>The four brothers stayed in the room just watching Scott sleeping. It was a restful sight made all the more sweeter knowing he was not in any further danger from assailants. Who could have known that the simple act of giving a girl a piece of apple pie and some attention when he was 13 years old would have had such a long-lasting and devastating effect on them all?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eight months. 243 days.</p><p>From the time Scott stepped out of the cockpit of One the day he and Virgil went to Kansas until today.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for sharing this journey with me.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eight months. 243 days.</p><p>From the time Scott stepped out of the cockpit of One the day he and Virgil went to Kansas until today.</p><p>5832 hours.</p><p>Not that anybody had been counting.</p><p>It had been a difficult recovery, certainly one of the worse Scott, and for that matter any of them, had had to undergo bar Gordon.</p><p>They had been incredibly fortunate with the possible side- and long-term effects he could have suffered, but that had not made it an easy ride. Once Scott had been coherent enough to understand them, which had been several days after the operation, it had been made clear to him that if he did not rest he could face having a seizure. That was enough to make him wary of overdoing it.</p><p>He had been predicted to leave hospital after one week, but he stayed a further two. Mrs Patel, whilst getting on fabulously with Sally Tracy, had put her foot down. She was very unhappy to release Scott while he was in so much pain.</p><p>The small amount of physio his brothers were helping him with was an excruciating torture. Scott knew it was necessary, but the pain down his left side left him in tears every time. With no sign of the pain diminishing his surgeon and her team actively looked for other ways to help him as he was already maxed out on pain relief.</p><p>They came up with a mixture of medical and holistic approaches to help. His physiotherapy sessions were adapted to include some yoga and tai chi moves he could be assisted with while still bedbound. A keyboard was bought in for Virgil to indulge in some music therapy, and the three eldest meditated together. Scott’s pain medication began to be reduced 8 days after the operation. While these tools helped Scott cope with the pain, they did not remove it.</p><p>After three weeks it was Sally’s turn to put her foot down. Whilst Scott was not as mobile as anyone would like, he was managing most daily living activities and she saw no reason why he couldn’t now continue at home.</p><p>By now Scott was up and about. But his co-ordination had been affected and he couldn’t always get moving right. He’d ended up in a heap on the floor several times when he just couldn’t get his legs and feet to move and had lost more drinks than he’d consumed by knocking them off the table. Despite all that, he knew he’d gotten off relatively lightly.</p><p>There were no seizures, no blood clots or bleeding.<br/>
There had been no memory loss.<br/>
There had been difficulty speaking and moving.<br/>
His hearing had been super sensitive.</p><p>Scott had slept almost the entirety of two and a half months before being able to stay awake for more than half a day. As his need for sleep lessened, so did his chronic pain and his sensitive hearing.</p><p>Initially, Scott had alternated between anger and tears. He couldn’t always voice why he felt like he did, so his brothers had become quieter around him, careful not to upset him. In turn, this made Scott feel worse. It was Sally who pointed out to the four of them that they were actually making Scott worse and that they needed to treat him normally. Thankfully, these episodes began to disappear as Scott’s dependence on the medication lessened.</p><p>At the three-month demarcation Brains, Virgil and Sally came to talk to Scott. The titanium mesh plate used in his operation was a standard one, but there had never been any tests done on such mesh and the effects of flying at the speeds One was capable of. However, the bone welding technology used had been far in advance of anything used before, and in combination with the regenerator Scott did not have to worry about having the plate removed – it now formed part of his skull and his bone was growing over it completely.</p><p>By the end of three months he could concentrate enough to hold what he considered proper conversations. It was a very emotional time for both Virgil and Alan as Scott had private meetings with both of them.</p><p>Kayo came into her own here. Using techniques her father had taught her, she spent long hours medateting with Scott, using a combination of martial arts to help with his balance and concentration.</p><p>By the time he’d been home for five months Scott was able to walk without using the cane he’d needed for balance. His co-ordination wasn’t quite fully on track but was improving rapidly.</p><p>In all, he had only three worrying but minor setbacks.</p><p>The first was just before he had been home for three months. Alan had brought in hot drinks for everyone and had put his coffee next to Scott’s drink on the table while he sorted something out. Scott, not realising which one was which, tried to grab his but succeeded in knocking the hot coffee over himself. This resulted in a first degree burn and a very guilty and upset Alan. Scott had been philosophical. He’d not been allowed coffee yet and declared this was the best coffee he’d had for months. Everyone had a beat of absolute silence before bursting out laughing. It was the first real laughter had since the incident.</p><p>The second was after being home for 4 months and Gordon came home with a cold. Despite quarantining himself from everybody, Scott still managed to get ill, and everybody panicked that this could turn into pneumonia. As soon as Gordon started showing symptoms, Sally immediately started Scott on a course of anti-viral medication, and he managed to go the entire two weeks with just a mild cold. It hurt to cough, but he was healing enough that no further damage was done.</p><p>The third occurred not long after he had recovered from the cold. Scott had been having regular physio in the pool with Gordon and was making his way there when he tripped on nothing and fell forwards, catching his head on the wall as he fell. All hell broke loose as Gordon hit the emergency alarm. Before Scott could blink he was back in the infirmary and hooked up to a multitude of scanners. He hadn’t lost consciousness and the blow had only been glancing, but he was kept in for two days having scans what felt like constantly, just to be on the safe side.</p><p>During his sixth month of freedom from hospital, Virgil and his grandmother accompanied Scott back to Johns Hopkins for what he hoped would be his all clear. He had been back to being himself for three weeks – no pain, no headaches, no cane, normal speech – and he hoped that this would be enough to be cleared for light duties and maybe piloting for himself. Virgil might just be almost as skilled a pilot as he was but nothing irritated him more than being airborne but not in control. He could hear all his brothers calling him control freak.</p><p>It was a full two-day appointment as Mrs Patel wanted to be absolutely sure. After all, not many of her patients went on to fly at such ridiculous supersonic speeds. Scott underwent a barrage of blood tests, reflex tests and a combined MRI/PET scan. By the time this had all been done Scott was both exhausted and hungry, having had to fast for the PET scan preparation. He slept overnight whilst attached to an EEG monitor, an EMG monitor and an EOG monitor. Scott had never seen so many cables, and he had to wear a ridiculous hat.</p><p>The last test, scheduled for the morning, was a fMRI scan, then they had the rest of the day until his appointment at 3pm for the results. They didn’t stray too far from the hospital as Scott was still exhausted, not having had much sleep the night before.</p><p>The appointment did not go the way Scott had hoped. Yes, he was healing very well, but the various tests showed that he was not quite 100% yet, and Mrs Patel was not happy to sign him off yet. He grumbled to himself, knowing his grandma and Virgil would side with the doc. They did. So it was agreed for Scott to wait a further six weeks and return for the same tests again and hopefully that would be all that was needed.</p><p>The next six weeks were hell on earth for Scott’s earth-bound brothers. John, by virtue of the fact he had spent almost three months exclusively on earth to help Scott initially, escaped to Five. Everyone else had to cope with Grizzly Bear Tracy, as Gordon had helpfully started to call him. Indeed, nothing was frustrating Scott more than feeling back to normal but no being allowed to act back to normal.</p><p>Again, it was Kayo who saved the day. She started Scott off on a six-week plan to put some weight back on him. Although he had been participating in daily physio, it had not put on the muscle tone that only the gym could do, and Sally had given her blessing as long as no contact sports were involved. So for six weeks Scott spent ages in the gym getting muscle tone back and being </p><p>The next time Scott was back at the hospital he was delighted to be given the all-clear. He celebrated by piloting the jet home to a surprise party that Gordon had obviously been instrumental in planning, judging from the garish colours. Scott loved it.</p><p>Two days later…</p><p>TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB</p><p>Eight months. 243 days.</p><p>From the time Scott stepped out of the cockpit of One the day he and Virgil went to Kansas until today.</p><p>5832 hours.</p><p>Everybody had been counting.</p><p>Scott stood at the entrance to his precious ’bird, hands on the fixtures, facing his grinning family.</p><p>‘Are you ready, Scott?’ asked Virgil.</p><p>Scott grinned at them all, pulled on the fixtures and said:</p><p>‘Thunderbirds are go!’</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Medical terms:<br/>MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Uses magnetic fields and radio waves to take detailed pictures.<br/>PET scan: Positron Emission Tomography. Used with an MRI to take clearer pictures of brain tissue and watch brain activity. Patient takes a radiotracer.<br/>EEG monitor: Electroencephalography. Used to detect and monitor brain activity, problems with sleeping and memory, and investigate possible epilepsy.<br/>EMG monitor: Electromyography. Measures muscle movement while patient is asleep.<br/>EOG monitor: Electrooculogram. Measures eye movement while patient is asleep.<br/>fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Used to diagnose possible disorders of consciousness.</p><p>While EEG/EMG/EOG monitoring may not be standard testing for brain injury, Mrs Patel is covering all bases.</p><p>For two other great stories on Scott and brain injury try:<br/>Second In Command, Lady Razorsharp on AO3 <br/>Road to Recovery, Bluegrass on FFN</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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